Chapter 39: Not Afraid of Cold, Just Afraid of Poverty The woman bought two fish and walked into the building. The child behind her shouted, "Let's eat fish today." This attracted the curiosity of the neighbors and also brought new customers to Li Long. This community is inhabited by workers and their families. These days, most workers live much better than farmers, so they have some extra money to buy fish. Seeing people gathering around, the middle-aged man quickly picked out a carp and a black carp. When paying, he said to Li Long: "Young man, can you come again before the New Year? We will give out salary subsidies before the New Year. If you can come then, there will definitely be a lot of people buying your fish." "That depends on the situation." Li Long smiled. "Whether we can catch fish in the lake depends on luck. I can't say for sure." The middle-aged man nodded to show his understanding, then left with the fish. There weren't many people around, but most of them were buying one or two fish at a time. A middle-aged woman looked at the fish and asked: "Young man, do you have a smaller fish? This fish is too big and I can't make it taste good." "Yes, we have crucian carp and small ditch fish. Do you want them?" Li Long said, "I didn't bring all the fish here. I don't know if I can sell them. I also have a ten-kilogram silver carp." "Then bring it here, I'll wait for you here." The middle-aged woman said, and then stepped aside. Li Long responded, and after the others had picked their fish and paid, he saw that there was no one else, so he said, "Sister, wait for me, I'll get it right away."
In just a short while, most of the dozen or so fish in the bag had been sold, and Li Long was in a really good mood. He hurried out with the urea bag and went to find the carriage to load the fish. Someone who heard the news came down, but didn't see anyone selling fish, so he asked the middle-aged woman: "Mrs. Yu, the fishmonger has left?" "No, he went to get the fish. I don't want a big fish, I want a small one. He went to get the small one." "Okay, I'll wait too." Although the factory distributed benefits before the New Year these days, there was a real shortage of supplies. The snow was so thick in this winter that many things could not be transported, and it was not easy to buy fish. Tao Daqiang, who was guarding the carriage, saw Li Long coming out and hurriedly drove the carriage over. "Brother Long, how are the fish selling?" "Very good, there are many people who want it. You can park the carriage outside the family compound, I will load some more fish in to sell." Li Long smiled and said, "If it gets cold, just stamp your feet." "I'm not cold." Tao Daqiang said with a smile. In fact, his eyebrows, eyelashes and hair were all covered with white frost. It was really cold in December this year. Even if he wore a cotton jacket and cotton pants, he would still be frozen if he stayed outside for a long time. I couldn't even feel my feet anymore. But what is more uncomfortable than the cold is poverty. Now that he can see the hope of getting rid of poverty, Tao Daqiang will never think that enduring this little hardship is a big deal. Li Long entered the yard again carrying a bag full of fish. The old man guarding the gate just glanced at him and ignored him. There were already four or five people waiting in the yard. When they saw Li Long coming over with another full bag of fish, they hurriedly surrounded him. "Everyone, don't be impatient!" Li Long said hurriedly, "Wait for me to arrange the fish, otherwise it will be difficult for you to choose, right?" "Okay, young man, we'll listen to you." Everyone gave up their seats. Li Long took out another urea bag from the bag, spread it on the ground, and began to lay out the fish one by one. Looking at the big silver carp weighing more than ten kilograms, several people were amazed: "This fish is so big!"
"That's right, I've never seen such a big fish before!" "Young man, how much do you sell this big fish for?" "This one's nine dollars." Li Long raised the price a little. After all, he has to add the shipping fee, right? The man stopped talking. His monthly salary was less than 40 yuan, and he couldn't bear to give up a quarter of it all at once. The middle-aged woman who first asked for the small fish looked at the crucian carp and asked, "How much is this small crucian carp?" "No matter how big or small, ten for one dollar." In fact, the smallest crucian carp is as big as a palm, so the small ones are kept at home. "Then give me the two-dollar one." The woman knew this was actually more cost-effective than the big fish, and said immediately. "Give me two dollars too!" another person said immediately. Li Long didn't expect that small fish were easier to sell than big fish, so he was very happy. He quickly counted the fish and collected the money. Those who came to buy fish all had something in their hands, either bags or basins. After taking the fish and counting the money, some were in a hurry to go home to thaw the fish for cooking, while others just watched and didn't want to leave. In less than half an hour, only the big silver carp and two bighead carp were left on the stall. Seeing that there was no one around, Li Long simply packed up his stall, then hurried out and brought in the few remaining small crucian carps and put them on display. Half an hour later, all the small crucian carp were sold out. Just when Li Long thought that the big silver carp might be pulled back, a tall man in his fifties strode over. Seeing that there was only one big silver carp on the stall, he frowned and asked: "Is this the only fish left?" "Yeah." Li Long said, "The others are all sold out." "So are you coming tomorrow?" "I can't come." Li Long shook his head. "My home is far away, in the countryside of Ma County. It takes half a day to go back and forth. When I go back, I won't have time to catch fish. It will take at least three or five days for me to come back." "Okay." The man hesitated for a moment, pointed at the silver carp and asked: “How much do you sell this fish?” "Eight dollars, please." Li Long did not insist on nine dollars. There were several people who had asked about the price before, but they kept silent when they heard nine dollars. "Cheaper, I'll buy it if it's cheaper." The man said, "Six dollars, how about it?" "Seven dollars, please." Li Long felt that it was not cost-effective to sell such a big fish, weighing more than ten kilograms, for six dollars. "Okay." The man smiled, took out the money happily, then turned around and walked out of the family compound carrying the fish. Aren’t you from this unit? Li Long put away the bag and began to count the money. Today, he brought a lot of fish. Of the more than 70 kilograms of fish he caught yesterday, Li Long sorted them out at night, leaving the smaller carps, silver carps, and particularly small crucian carps that weighed less than one kilogram at home, leaving 60 kilograms of fish. In addition to the big silver carp, there were 19 big fish weighing nearly 40 kilograms and more than 10 kilograms of small fish, which sold for a total of yuan. It’s really equivalent to a worker’s monthly salary! Among them was Tao Daqiang's fifteen yuan - Li Long converted it based on labor, tools, and effort. He took the bag back to the carriage and counted out fifteen dollars for Tao Daqiang:
"Da Qiang, this is your money for today. When you and your brother go out tomorrow, do you want to keep this money, or deposit it with me, or buy something when you go back?" "I'll take five dollars, and I'll leave the rest with you first." Tao Daqiang thought for a moment and said, "I want to see if there are any fishing nets for sale at the supply and marketing cooperative. If there are, I'll buy one too." "Then let's take a look in Shicheng. There is a large area and abundant supplies here." "Okay." Tao Daqiang's eyes lit up and he was a little curious. He had never visited Shicheng before! The two drove the carriage to Shicheng Department Store - Tao Daqiang did not ask Li Long how he knew the location. In his opinion, it was normal for Brother Long to know everything. In fact, Li Long was also very curious. What is the difference between the Shicheng Department Store of this era and that of later generations? Thanks for the tip from I am Xiaogui. The first round of recommendations will start tomorrow. I am a little nervous. (End of this chapter)
