Chapter 874: Is this a real acquisition of cultural relics, or are they here to test the waters?

In the Fourth Production Team, many families had their large basins borrowed away, and the news that Li Long had brought back a truckload of watermelon seeds that needed processing also spread.

After hearing what Xu Haijun had to say, Xu Chengjun pondered for a moment and asked:

"Do you think there's some sort of reason for Li Long doing this?"

"Probably not, right?" Xu Haijun had actually thought about this long ago. "He drives that Jeep given by the Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative every day; he can't just drive it for nothing, can he? In our military unit, only commanders at the regimental level or above get to ride in a Jeep like that.

Since he drives it like it's his own every day, he has to do some work, right? To be honest, in these two years, this is the first time I've seen him doing any proper work."

There was a thick layer of jealousy in Xu Haijun's words. Xu Chengjun listened and smiled; it was only natural.

Who in the team wasn't jealous of Li Long's good luck? Even he, the team leader, envied him greatly.

But what was the use of envy? If it were three years ago, perhaps someone following in his footsteps could still catch up, but now it was impossible. Li Long had already left the people in the team far behind.

Therefore, Xu Chengjun wasn't jealous; he was just thinking about the significance of what Li Long was doing. As a team leader, he would seek benefits for the team, but when necessary, it was also normal to secure some benefits for his own home and family.

"Does that mean the price of watermelon seeds this year might be pretty good?" Xu Chengjun considered this question. "Or perhaps, if the price at the roasted goods factory isn't good this year, will the Supply and Marketing Cooperative be buying watermelon seeds? If they do buy, what will the price be?"

"Last year it was three-fifty; this year it won't exceed three, right? The Li family didn't even plant any, so I estimate it might not even reach two yuan."

"If it really reaches two yuan, that would be fine," Xu Chengjun said. "I'm afraid it won't even reach one yuan; maybe if they buy too much, no one will buy them anymore. I've also asked around; there's a private roasted goods factory in our county, and their annual output of watermelon seeds won't exceed three tons, which is less than twenty mu of land. The roasted goods factory in Shicheng can take more, but it won't exceed ten tons..."

Calculating it this way, there was no telling where to sell the hundreds of mu of watermelon seeds planted just in the team.

Not to mention it wasn't just the team's; there were other production teams as well. This year, the land planted with watermelons was no less than a thousand mu.

Over a hundred tons!

Xu Chengjun was thinking about whether there was any profit to be made in this matter.

Should he buy some first and then resell them to Li Long later? That definitely wouldn't work; Zhang Qiang had tried something similar and got burned badly. Even now, he hadn't sold off all those large brooms at home.

In any case, everyone understood now that when dealing with Li Long, you could follow him and walk his path, but don't cut him off.

Cutting him off was risky.

Therefore, Xu Chengjun wanted to profit from this opportunity, but he didn't want to provoke Li Long.

Li Long used to be the type who wouldn't mind anything if you said a few nice words. But ever since he returned from Wucheng, he had completely changed. He was magnanimous, had vision, and had drive, but he no longer had his original enthusiasm.

He had matured a lot.

Many people in the team felt uncomfortable with this version of Li Long. In fact, Xu Chengjun understood that being uncomfortable meant they couldn't take advantage of him anymore.

Xu Haijun hadn't received any notice from Li Long and felt a bit like a failure. He felt that his relationship with Li Long was already quite good, and logically speaking, he should have had a share in such a matter.

But thinking about it, it was no big deal. The wheat season was coming soon; they should be harvesting wheat in mid-July. Now that he had already bought his tractor and harvester, he would go all out when the time came and make a few thousand yuan. Wouldn't that be better than making this little bit of money?

Xu Haijun greeted Xu Chengjun and then left; he still needed to get familiar with the tractor and harvester. The tractor was fine, but the harvester wasn't that easy to master.

Mingwa came back from school, shouting that he wanted to go out and play, only to get a slap on the head from his mother. Helplessly, he grumbled and went to pull pigweed.

Xu Chengjun sighed. If only his own child were as studious as Li Juan and Li Qiang, he wouldn't need to worry so much. Mingwa clearly wasn't the type for studying; it would be good if he could finish junior high. He definitely wouldn't pass the exam for a technical secondary school or high school, so he would have to worry about him after he finished.

He had to lay a foundation for him now. Even if he didn't take over his position, he should at least have land and machinery in the team... Sigh, a life of worry.

The next morning, Li Long swept the courtyard clean and went to milk the goats—now, there wasn't much goat milk to be had each time. The two lambs were still quite affectionate toward Li Long; after seeing him, they came over to rub against him.

After Li Long finished cleaning the goat pen and poured sugar dregs for them, he went to the kitchen to store the goat milk. In a while, he would have to move these goats to the old horse corral; otherwise, there would be no goat milk to drink in the second half of the year.

After breakfast, Li Long accompanied Mingming and Haohao in the courtyard. He thought about checking the acquisition station later and then going to the team at noon to see the situation. After Tao Daqiang and the others took the watermelon seeds away yesterday, they must have soaked them that very night.

These watermelon seeds would inevitably soften after soaking for a night. This morning, they could use boards to press them; once pressed flat, they could be put out to dry. Once dried, the goods could be collected.

This was all based on experience; there were no special techniques. So, with today's sun, they could collect the first batch of pressed watermelon seeds by evening.

Sister Yang was busy in the kitchen. Summer had arrived, and it was hot; they couldn't just keep eating popsicles. She planned to make some jelly for lunch.

Mung bean soup was boiling in the pot; it had already come to a boil, but the fire under the pot didn't stop; it kept burning. The tradition here was to boil the mung bean soup for a longer time, until the mung beans turned into mung bean paste, and only then would it be ready. At that time, after it cooled down, drinking a bowl of mung bean soup with paste during the peak of the summer heat would clear away all the heat.

Li Long got a few foxtail grasses from the flower field to weave toys for the two children. Actually, Li Long wasn't very good at weaving, but just twisting the foxtail grasses together looked quite nice, and the two children laughed when they saw it.

The lamb came over and stretched out its mouth to taste the foxtail grass. Mingming even knew to reach out and push the lamb away; in his view, how could he let the sheep eat something his old father had made?

If anyone was going to eat it, it was him—and then he stuffed it into his mouth!

Li Long hurriedly grabbed the foxtail grass from his son's mouth. This wasn't for eating; eating it would cause trouble.

Just as he pulled the thing out of Mingming's mouth, Haohao also wanted to eat something. He was different from Mingming; he wanted to eat something alive—he hugged the head of the little lamb beside him and bit down on its flapping little ear!

Fortunately, the little lamb wasn't a little black dog. After being bitten and feeling pain, it directly shook Haohao off and ran away, bleating. For at least ten minutes, this little lamb wouldn't play with the two children again—of course, after ten minutes, they would come back; there was no help for it, little lambs didn't have long memories either.

At this time, one had to be very careful when watching children. Of course, in this era, many people didn't care at all; if they ate it, they ate it. Anything they could swallow could mostly be digested, and what couldn't be digested would just be pooped out. It wasn't like later generations, where there were too many chemicals and metals; if they swallowed those, they could potentially cause danger in the body.

At this time, if they swallowed anything, it was most likely mud or pebbles, which didn't have much impact.

Of course, Li Long couldn't let them really eat anything while watching them, so he just teased them; this required great patience.

Fortunately, he had it.

He really did.

A knock on the door sounded. Li Long recognized it as Sun Jia Qiang's voice, so he responded:

"Come in, Little Sun!"

Sun Jia Qiang pushed open the small door and entered, but he didn't walk forward; he just stood by the door and said to Li Long:

"Boss, someone who collects antiques has come, saying he wants to see if we have anything with age to it; he wants to collect them."

"Someone collecting antiques?" Li Long was stunned for a moment. How did they find him?

As soon as this thought emerged, Li Long laughed. It was normal for them to find him; after all, he ran an acquisition station, and it was impossible to keep the news hidden if someone came to sell antiques.

He said to Sun Jia Qiang:

"Little Sun, you go back first and say I'll be there right away."

Sun Jia Qiang responded and then turned and went out the door, closing the small door behind him.

Sister Yang came out of the kitchen. She had already washed her hands and said to Li Long:

"Uncle, you go ahead; I'll watch Mingming and Haohao."

"Alright." Li Long responded and stood up.

Mingming and Haohao probably knew their father was leaving; both stood up and wobbled, not wanting Li Long to leave. However, Li Long had proper business, so he patted the two children's heads. Sister Yang turned and went into the kitchen to get two steamed buns. As soon as they saw the buns, the two little ones didn't want their father anymore and turned to hug Sister Yang.

Well, once they had food, they didn't want their old man anymore.

Li Long didn't drive; he walked to the acquisition station. It was only a hundred or two hundred meters away, so it was quick.

The acquisition station was still lively. Li Long had a sharp nose and could smell a very strong mushroom scent. At this time, many people came to sell mushrooms, and there were other herbs too, like Codonopsis and snow lotus.

Li Long suddenly remembered that the last time he went into the mountains, he seemed to have seen quite a few snow lotuses on a mountainside. He had to go pick some when he had time.

It wasn't that snow lotuses were very valuable—right now, snow lotuses really weren't that valuable. He bought them here for two or three yuan and sold them to Jia Tianlong for six.

But one had to have that experience and process.

Li Long entered the courtyard of the acquisition station. Those queuing to sell things greeted him one after another—most were middlemen, and they had seen Li Long more than once or twice, so they were familiar.

As for the very few who came for the first time, they knew who this was after hearing others' greetings and would also greet him.

It was just to get a familiar face; what if they needed to ask him for a favor later?

Li Long responded to each one and then saw the person wearing a traditional Chinese jacket standing at the door.

This person also had someone wearing a Zhongshan suit with him. Li Long thought to himself, aren't these two hot?

Wearing these clothes in this sweltering heat, is it really comfortable?

Li Long could see that both of them had sweat on their faces, and they were holding handkerchiefs to wipe it off from time to time. At this time, there were no tissues, only handkerchiefs.

Seeing Li Long coming, the two immediately greeted him. Li Long even saw an expression of relief on the face of the one wearing the traditional jacket.

"Hello, hello, sorry to keep you waiting, I'm Li Long." Li Long extended his hand. "Let's go, let's sit in the back and talk."

"Hello, hello, my name is Ye Quanfeng, and this is my brother, Wen Chaozong." The middle-aged man in the traditional jacket said with a smile. His smile was very approachable; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was like a spring breeze.

The one surnamed Wen kept a straight face, but after following Li Long to the shaded area in the backyard, Li Long clearly felt him breathe a sigh of relief.

It seemed that the heat of June in Northern Xinjiang wasn't so easy to dissipate.

Li Long led the two people through the back door into the acquisition station. A room had been cleared out here, with tables and chairs, just like a reception room.

Li Long invited the two to sit down, and Sun Jia Qiang had already brought over two bowls of tea.

"Please, have some tea." Li Long gestured. "I don't have anything good to treat you with here, please bear with me."

"It's fine, it's fine, this is already very good." Ye Quanfeng took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "Brother Li's business is quite good. In this sweltering heat, there are still so many people coming to sell goods at the acquisition station daily; it shows the brand is very strong."

"Not at all, not at all, just riding the wind of reform." Li Long smiled. "You collect antiques?"

"Yes, gold in troubled times, collectibles in prosperous times. Now that we have reached a prosperous age, these old items have also found their time to play a role. If someone likes them, we try our best to help them find them."

"Actually, you shouldn't have come here," Li Long said with a smile. "The Guanzhong Plain, the Central Plains, and the Yanjiao area—any place you pick there would have more than Northern Xinjiang, right? Although I am considered a person from Northern Xinjiang, without being disparaging, this place is far behind those places in terms of historical relics."

"Haha, Brother Li is a straightforward person, so I won't speak in riddles. We go everywhere; while traveling, we look at the local customs and also see what good things are where. We go wherever we go, depending on whether there's fate." Ye Quanfeng said, "Some people like the weight of the Central Plains, some people want to see the customs of the Western Regions; it's different."

"Alright then, come, follow me and take a look." Li Long stood up and said, "I have collected some items with age here, but to be honest, they are hard to present in elegant company."

Li Long opened the door to the warehouse and let Ye Quanfeng enter.

Wen Chaozong also wanted to enter, but Li Long blocked him.

Just kidding, the things inside might really not be good, but they were bought with real money. Ye Quanfeng entered, and he could watch; if another person entered, it wouldn't be easy for him to watch.

Ye Quanfeng knew the rules and said to Wen Chaozong:

"Chaozong, you wait outside."

In any case, Li Long hadn't closed the door, and it was unlikely there was any danger in this warehouse.

The warehouse had windows, and there were iron bars outside the windows. The light was good, and one could see the things placed inside.

Li Long still turned on the electric light; he just wanted Ye Quanfeng to see everything completely.

Whether they could be sold was another matter, but as a seller, this attitude still had to be shown.

Sure enough, seeing Li Long do this, Ye Quanfeng nodded in appreciation. Although this person surnamed Li was young, he did things quite well.

However, he glanced at these things, and a look of slight disappointment appeared on his face:

"Brother Li, is this all there is?"

"Yes, this is all." Li Long nodded. "To be honest, this is a private acquisition station, and it's only been open for half a year. Originally, I mainly collected medicinal herbs and hides; these old items were brought by the villagers, and it wouldn't be right not to collect them. There's no market for these things after collecting them, and I'm worried too. Fortunately, there aren't many, and they are all here."

Of course, Li Long thought the better things had already been transported to the large courtyard. He had no intention of selling the things that had entered the large courtyard. It wouldn't be strange if these things were left for another ten or twenty years and appreciated tenfold, hundredfold, or thousandfold.

Only a fool would sell them!

"That shouldn't be right either," Ye Quanfeng looked at these things again and asked, "In this northwestern frontier, this horse gear should exist. This gold-inlaid horse gear is not bad; I want it, but shouldn't this be a set? Isn't there a saber or something?"

When Ye Quanfeng said this, he looked seriously into Li Long's eyes, wanting to see what expression he would have upon hearing this.

A saber?

Li Long's thoughts raced: Is this person really here to buy antiques, or is he here to test the waters?

Otherwise, why would he mention a saber? He did indeed have a saber, but he didn't dare take that thing out, nor could he sell it.

Could it be that the news about that matter in the mountains had leaked? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 875 =====