Chapter 906

That brother's melon seeds were exceptionally clean—two sacks, 126 kilograms. Seeing that he had cleaned them so well, Li Long raised the price, buying them at 1.1 yuan per kilogram, totaling 138.6 yuan.

After that brother drove away with his melon seeds, Fan Mingcheng said to Li Long:

"Boss Li, I'm back again. This time, take a look at my melon seeds; they're no worse than that guy's just now!"

Since Fan Mingcheng had this confidence, Li Long would naturally give him the opportunity.

Li Long had originally intended to pick a bag to take down and inspect, but Fan Mingcheng was clearly very confident and took down the bags of melon seeds one by one.

Li Long opened a bag at random and grabbed a handful to look.

Not bad, quite clean; the shriveled seeds that were there before were all gone, and there were no impurities in this handful of seeds.

He checked a few other bags, and they all seemed fine. Although he could occasionally see some white, unfilled seeds, it was pretty good.

"Fine, I'll take these melon seeds at 1.1 yuan too—but if you bring more like this in two days, it'll be 1 yuan at most then." Li Long said, "With that brother in front today, I felt a bit embarrassed to press your price, but to be honest, your processing isn't as good as his."

"I know, I know, I know." As soon as Fan Mingcheng heard Li Long say this, his face beamed like a flower, "Boss Li, don't you worry, the next batch of melon seeds I collect will absolutely be processed clean!"

For the more than one ton of melon seeds Fan Mingcheng collected this time, Li Long paid over 1,400 yuan.

Fan Mingcheng didn't make much on this trip, and it took a lot of effort. However, he was quite happy because this was a big job.

Is there any future for a middleman?

Very little.

He had heard of Li Long's rise to wealth—to be honest, it's really not easy to inquire about someone's background these days, especially the detailed process.

Fortunately, there are newspapers now, and Li Long's experiences have been reported in the Autonomous Region Daily and the Beiting Daily.

Although not very detailed, one can analyze from them that Li Long also started as a middleman and eventually reached his current position.

Li Long's path to wealth is very clear: starting from selling fish, reselling things from the mountains, accumulating assets step by step, and later reselling fritillaria.

Fan Mingcheng also deals in fritillaria in the summer, but the profit in between is definitely less. Moreover, his weakness in collecting fritillaria from mountain people is that he doesn't know many people.

But these melon seeds are different. Fan Mingcheng himself is from the countryside, and there are quite a few families in his township who grow melon seeds. The fact that someone earned money growing melon seeds last year and the year before and bought a tractor spread throughout the county, leading to a huge number of people growing them.

Now that they know they can't sell them, those who grew melon seeds are panicking, so Fan Mingcheng easily collected a cartload at 0.9 yuan per kilogram.

Although he earns 0.2 yuan per kilogram, with over a ton in this tractor bed, he earns 200 yuan.

Running around for seven or eight days usually isn't as good as this!

So Fan Mingcheng knew this was an opportunity. If things go well, he might be able to earn enough for a tractor in this one melon seed season!

Fan Mingcheng felt a burning sensation in his heart and drove the tractor away excitedly.

Others in the courtyard saw that Fan Mingcheng's melon seeds had been unloaded and not taken back, so they knew they had been sold. Seeing his expression clearly suppressing joy, they knew the price must be good and he had earned a lot.

Some looked at each other, and some calculated in their hearts: should they also go and collect some melon seeds?

Even without a tractor, if they had a bicycle, they could carry two sacks over like that brother just now and also earn some money.

Melon seeds are easy to find, much easier than running around the countryside collecting goods like a lottery.

Among these people, there were smart ones who went to earnestly ask Gu Bo Yuan and Sun Jia Qiang about the precautions for collecting melon seeds, and there were also reckless ones who went to collect them right after selling their own goods, and there were also those like Fan Mingcheng who hit a wall.

After all, those people thought that even if they couldn't reach Premium grade, if they cleaned up the collected melon seeds, there would be no problem getting a First grade rating, right?

The First grade they were thinking of was different from the First grade rated here by Li Long.

The Tie family lived on the east side of Maxian County, which was still considered the outskirts of the city at the moment; only twenty or thirty years later would this area be expanded into a road.

In the courtyard, Tie Lanhua was screening the melon seeds she had collected. Since Sun Jia Qiang said they could be collected, Tie Lanhua persuaded her parents to take out some money to go to the township to acquire them.

Their family didn't have a tractor, only a semi-new bicycle. It was usually kept at home and only ridden when going to far places to collect goods. This time, Tie Lanhua rode the bicycle to collect two sacks—

Tie Lanhua's father didn't quite believe this could make money, so the money he gave Tie Lanhua wasn't much.

Fortunately, Tie Lanhua often ran to the countryside, and the farmers she collected from this time were people she dealt with often. She paid for one sack and bought one sack on credit.

Collecting goods at 0.85 yuan, and getting an extra sack, the Tie family was quite happy.

After all, this way, earning 0.15 yuan per kilogram, just these two sacks could earn over 10 yuan.

But Tie Lanhua didn't take the melon seeds directly to the acquisition station as her family said. Sun Jia Qiang had told her that Boss Li's standards were very high and they had to be cleaned properly.

Tie Lanhua also asked about the requirements for Premium grade. She was actually aiming for Premium grade, but once Sun Jia Qiang told her, she knew she couldn't manage that.

So First grade it is; First grade is fine too.

The reason they were collected cheaper than the market price was that when these melon seeds were scooped out of the melon pulp and dried, some impurities got in, and the farmers hadn't cleaned them very well.

It was mainly because they knew melon seeds couldn't be sold for a good price, so they didn't put their hearts into it. After all, some people in the village said these melon seeds couldn't even be sold at all.

So at 0.85 yuan, people were willing to sell. If it weren't for Tie Lanhua not having that kind of financial strength, she might have been able to haul two tons of melon seeds back today.

"What are you still doing there? Why not just haul them to the acquisition station and sell them?" Tie Jinbing looked at his sister busy there and said with some dissatisfaction, "After selling them, we can collect some more; otherwise, if others collect them, we won't have a chance."

"If we haul them over like this, they won't sell." Tie Lanhua didn't have any thoughts about her brother not helping her work; in this kind of family that favors boys over girls, this kind of thing was very normal.

Tie Jinbing was very careful about his image when going out, but he wasn't like that in his own courtyard. He wasn't actually anxious to sell them and then collect more; he was thinking that after selling them, he could find time to meet the girl he liked and brag about how much money he had earned today.

He had attributed all the things Tie Lanhua had done to himself when he went out, so in the eyes of another Hui girl, Tie Jinbing was a very capable young man.

"Then go find that Sun guy. He's been working in there for so long, he should have at least that much face, right?" Tie Jinbing said again.

Tie Lanhua stopped what she was doing, looked up at her brother, and said earnestly:

"Do you think that's possible? Jiaqiang is just a helper. If he could make that Boss Li lower the acquisition standards, then he wouldn't be a helper, he'd be the boss! He doesn't have that ability, and I won't say that!"

Tie Lanhua's tone became serious, and Tie Jinbing found it hard to say anything else.

He was smart and knew his sister had a bottom line. Sometimes bullying her was fine, but if he really touched that bottom line, his sister Tie Lanhua would also explode.

If they had a big fight, it wouldn't look good—there were neighbors all around, and the Tie family, especially his father Tie Yinhu, was very vain and didn't want others to know his family had this kind of conflict.

"Fine, fine, fine, you handle it, as long as you don't mind being tired! But Dad will be back in a while, and if he scolds you then, don't blame me!"

After saying this, Tie Jinbing went into the house.

After Tie Jinbing went inside, Tie Lanhua sighed and continued to screen the melon seeds.

Her mother, Ma Hai, came out of the house, squatted on the side to help Tie Lanhua pick out the stones and impurities in the melon seeds, and while picking, she nagged:

"Your brother is doing this for your own good. That acquisition station guy is Han Chinese; your dad definitely won't be willing. Now you save up more money, and when your brother gets a wife, there will be another woman in the family to do the work, and then you'll be more relaxed..."

Tie Lanhua didn't agree with her mother's words, but she didn't say anything; you couldn't reason with someone like her mother.

It was fortunate that she had gone to school and often ran outside to collect things, seeing more of the world and understanding more principles than her mother; otherwise, she might have slowly become like her mother.

She wasn't willing.

Even so, when Tie Lanhua finally pushed the bicycle carrying two sacks of melon seeds to the acquisition station, she still felt a bit guilty.

Of the two sacks of melon seeds, one had been screened by her, and she didn't have time to deal with the other one. Her father wasn't willing to let her spend effort on this and told her to just haul them to the acquisition station and sell them first.

Tie Lanhua had no choice. If she didn't agree, Tie Yinhu would really hit her, even though she was already an adult. Li Long watched the first sack of melon seeds being poured onto the sieve and nodded, saying:

"Not bad, quite clean. Pour the other sack too; let's weigh them together."

Tie Lanhua's face turned a bit red, and she shook her head, saying:

"That sack... isn't as clean as this one?"

Li Long looked at the girl with some surprise.

Tie Lanhua couldn't explain this matter, and Tie Jinbing said from the side:

"Pour them all, pour them all, they're all the same..."

Li Long looked up at Tie Jinbing, ignored him, and said:

"Weigh this one first."

Tie Jinbing still wanted to pester him, but Li Long looked at him again, and Tie Jinbing didn't dare to speak.

Li Long called Sun Jia Qiang from the side to help weigh this sack of melon seeds first.

"77 kilograms." Sun Jia Qiang placed the weights one by one and finally said.

"This one is processed quite cleanly, so I'll calculate it at 1.1 yuan per kilogram." Li Long ultimately had to give Sun Jia Qiang some face, "84.7 yuan. Little Sun, record it, let's look at the next sack."

This sack was put into the sack Sun Jia Qiang had prepared, and Li Long untied the rope of the other sack.

At first glance, Li Long frowned.

White-skinned seeds, shriveled seeds, dirt clods, and grass stalks were all there.

"I'm not taking this." Li Long was too lazy to even inspect it, "Too many impurities, not up to grade."

When Tie Jinbing heard this, he originally wanted to pester him, but Li Long looked up at Tie Lanhua and said:

"I'll take it if you get it cleaned up; I can't take it like this."

Then he looked at Tie Jinbing and said, "You haven't done any work, have you? That sack that was cleaned up wasn't done by you, right?"

Tie Jinbing was choked by Li Long's question.

"Record the account, settle the account." Li Long said.

After registering for Tie Lanhua, paying the money, and signing, Li Long went to look at the next person's melon seeds.

Sun Jia Qiang helped Tie Lanhua lift the sack of melon seeds that hadn't been accepted and put it on the back seat of the bicycle, saying in a low voice, "Go back and screen it properly; I'll still take it if you get it cleaned up."

Tie Lanhua nodded with some shame; she was anxious to escape this courtyard.

This was the first time she had been so embarrassed in front of Sun Jia Qiang.

In fact, she knew, and Sun Jia Qiang knew, that this was because of her family, not because of her. However, no matter what, at this time, everyone's concept was that the family and the individual were bound together and couldn't be separated.

Li Long didn't care that much; he let Sun Jia Qiang handle the details. His attention was all on the other people selling melon seeds.

He hadn't expected so many people to come here to sell melon seeds in the last two days. Just by now, the acquisition station had already collected over five tons of melon seeds.

He had originally planned to go to the production team today, but he couldn't go now; he had to handle the situation here first.

It wasn't until the acquisition station closed in the evening that Li Long drove the jeep in a hurry to the Fourth Team.

The Fourth Team was the place where he had lived for nearly ten years; this was his home. Many people here grew melon seeds, and although they didn't listen to his advice, he still had to take care of them.

Of course, it was even more because the machine for pressing melon seeds flat was still here, and these machines had to be put to use.

As soon as Li Long returned to the Li family, someone immediately came over to ask about the situation.

Some people actually already knew that Li Long was collecting melon seeds at the acquisition station, but no one in the team had hauled them over to sell; they just wanted to wait and see what Li Long would say when he came back.

"I'm collecting them at the acquisition station: Premium grade 1.5 yuan, First grade 1 yuan." Li Long told the seven or eight people who came over the truth, "Premium grade means the melon seeds are pressed flat, and First grade means they are especially clean with no impurities. Of course, Premium grade must also have no impurities... I don't need to say much about how to press them; when we grew them a few years ago, you all knew."

"Isn't this price too low?" Bai Qiuka complained, "They sold for 3.5 yuan last year... never mind 3.5, even 3, no, 2.5 would be fine!"

Bai Qiuka was older than Li Long and was considered to be in the same batch as Li Jianguo, but Li Long wouldn't give him any special treatment because of his age. These people were all fence-sitters in the village, and of course, what he said also represented the voices of these people.

Li Long then said:

"This price isn't aimed at you; it's mainly for those who grow melon seeds. I'm providing a floor price, just like a protected price. If you can sell them for a high price, that's naturally the best; if you can't, then I'll collect them at this price.

Actually, you also know that even if I collect them at this price, you still earn money—it's just that you earn less than last year, so you're unbalanced. But think about it, how many families grew melon seeds last year? How many families are there this year?

If everyone grew them and they could still have such a good price, then this market would be huge... at least it's impossible in our county.

I'm a representative now, and I've opened an acquisition station, so I have more channels than you, which is why I can provide a floor price, but it doesn't mean I must let you earn as much money as last year. I'm not running a charity."

Li Long's words were very straightforward and didn't give these people any face. But everyone also knew that what he said was the truth.

If they went by Li Long's price, they would definitely still earn money—after all, it was much better than growing grain. Even on the best land in the team, one mu of land would produce 200 kilograms of wheat, and selling it to the Grain Bureau would bring in less than 30 yuan.

According to Li Long's price, First grade is 1 yuan. One mu of land that's a bit worse produces 100 kilograms, and a better one can produce 130 or 140, or even 150 or 160, which is over 100 yuan.

That's quite a lot!

But human greed is insatiable; after all, one mu of land could earn 400 or 500 last year!

These people knew they couldn't bargain with Li Long, so they eventually left.

Later, Xie Yun Dong and the others came over, also in a string. These people came partly because Li Long was here and they wanted to chat, and some might have been thinking of asking Li Long if the remaining sunflower seeds could be sold.

"You came at the right time. I'll be collecting melon seeds in the team these few days. I have a pressing machine there. See who among you has time to help me press the melon seeds; pressing them flat is 0.1 yuan per kilogram."

It used to be 0.5 yuan per kilogram, which was time-consuming and laborious. Now with the pressing machine, Li Long wouldn't charge the original price. He had helped them sell sunflowers before and hadn't earned a cent, just pure help. Now it's business, so it's different.

"I have time." Tao Daqiang raised his hand, and then Jia Weidong also responded.

"Count me in." Xie Yun Dong hurriedly said, afraid that if he spoke late, there would be nothing for him.

0.1 yuan is 0.1 yuan. He had seen that machine at Tao Daqiang's place and knew it was especially easy to use.

All he needed to do was soak the melon seeds well, which didn't take much effort.

Liang Dacheng also wanted to raise his hand, but Li Long hurriedly said:

"Dacheng, don't do this; you help me haul melon seeds. I've collected quite a lot in the county; haul the collected melon seeds back and send them to those families. You just earn the shipping fee."

Since he had already told Tao Daqiang and the others about the 0.1 yuan pressing fee per kilogram, and now told Liang Dacheng to earn the shipping fee, there was nothing else to say.

Everyone earns their own money.

As for the acquisition in the team, Li Long handed it over to his eldest brother. Currently, the sunflowers had all been harvested, but the sunflower stalks in the fields hadn't been cleaned up yet, so there was no rush to plow the land, which meant Li Jianguo had time. Collecting melon seeds wasn't a big job; if someone came to sell, just weigh them and pay.

This was still emphasizing the team; otherwise, if they were all told to go to the county acquisition station to sell melon seeds, these people would have no way out.

Everything was arranged clearly, and Li Long went over it in his mind again, finding no problems, only then did he feel relieved.

This way, the first batch of pressed melon seeds could be collected in three days, and by then, whether it was Bai Xiu Ming or Dong Zhi Chao, he would have something to say when he met them.

Of course, he also had to see if Dong Zhi Chao would buy sunflowers. The sunflowers of these families in the team hadn't been sold, which was ultimately a matter on Li Long's mind. He had advised his eldest brother to grow sunflowers, and these people followed suit; since he hadn't advised them at the time, he at least had to handle this matter.

Actually, the Shicheng Roasted Goods Factory also bought goods, but the price wasn't high. Li Long still wanted to use Dong Zhi Chao as the first sales target; if it really didn't work, then he would look for other places. (End of chapter)