Chapter 70: Big Purchase for the Mountain This time, Li Long took Tao Daqiang to Laojie Station first. As the Chinese New Year approaches, the flow of people in the old street has increased significantly. Cars stop at the station, like iron monsters spitting out people one by one, and then pulling up another person and whizzing away. Just like last time, Li Long carried a urea bag on his back and asked everyone he met: "Fellow villager, do you want fish? Fresh big carp and grass carp, caught yesterday, cheap!" The words of speech are simple, but they are really effective if you say them more often. There are always one or two out of ten people who want to see Li Long's fish, and among these people, there is always one who wants to buy one out of four or five. After selling more than twenty fish here, Li Long moved to the staff quarters of the agricultural machinery factory again. This was the first time Li Long sold fish in Shicheng, so he was familiar with the place. What surprised him was that the doorman actually recognized him: "Young man, you haven't come here to sell fish for a while. Is the price still the same?" "Yes, sir, would you like one?" "Okay, give me a five-line black one!" Li Long chuckled: "Master, you know what you are talking about. This fish is delicious."
"That's right. I also caught fish in the Ma River when I was young. I definitely know which fish are delicious." After picking out a large black fish with five stripes for the gatekeeper, Li Long took two dollars and walked into the staff quarters with his bag on his back. As usual, he spread out the plastic sheet and put the fish on the table one by one. Before he had finished taking out all the fish, people came over to ask for the price. Some people have bought from him and know that the fish sold by Li Long are indeed fresh. After thawing them at home, they are not the limp "expired fish", so they come over as soon as they see Li Long setting up his stall. Some people had never bought one before, so they wanted to ask. After hearing what the person next to them said, they decided to buy a fish. What Li Long didn't expect was that all the fish he brought were sold out in just two places: Lao Street and the Agricultural Machinery Factory. There was not even any crucian carp left. A hunchbacked old lady asked for ten kilograms of crucian carp and said she would freeze them and eat them later - this fish is delicious. It is milky white when made into soup, and it is also delicious when stewed. You really know what you are talking about. From then on, Li Long felt that life was gradually getting better, and everyone could afford to buy fish during the New Year. With the newly acquired 105 yuan, Li Long and Tao Daqiang drove the carriage back. It was not yet noon. The fish sold quickly today. Li Long hummed a song and took out a five-yuan note and handed it to Tao Daqiang: "Da Qiang, take it. You have to buy some New Year's goods too." "Brother Long, I still owe you five dollars from last time..." Tao Daqiang didn't answer. "Take it first." Li Long said, "I'm going up the mountain tomorrow, and when I come back we have to sell fish twice more. There are many people who want to buy fish before the New Year, so we can make more money by doing two more trips. You can buy some New Year's goods first and bring them back to make your father happy." Tao Daqiang took the money with mixed feelings. The two men drove the carriage to the county town, and Li Long arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative first. "You see, take the carriage first. I'll buy some things, and then we'll go to the department store." "Okay." Tao Daqiang had no objection. Li Long entered the sales department of the supply and marketing cooperative and started shopping. This time he was mainly buying things for Halimu and Yushanjiang. He bought five wood-chopping axes, one for Li Long himself, two for Halimu and two for Yushanjiang respectively, and a lot of saws, ropes, plastic sheets, sickles, and hoes (a kind of farm tool similar to a hoe but with a round head). After buying these things, Li Long calculated that he had spent a total of thirty-four yuan. Not much.
It is far from the value of that piece of jade. Li Long thought that he could just go to the black market to buy some food before going up the mountain tomorrow. Tao Daqiang was a little surprised to see Li Long bought so many things. "My friends in the mountains are in need, they have helped me a lot, and I also brought them some things." After Li Long's explanation, Tao Daqiang understood and felt that Brother Long was really loyal. After arriving at the department store, Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to go shopping first. Tao Daqiang walked around for a long time with five yuan in his hand, and only bought half a kilogram of fruit hard candy and some peanuts - they had to be displayed during the Chinese New Year. He also bought two canned foods and two bags of sugar cubes, which he planned to prepare for visiting relatives. After Tao Daqiang came out, Li Long went in again. There were quite a few people in the department store. Li Long found that there were some new goods and there were also people selling fruits. Li Long then remembered that his sister-in-law seemed to have put all the fruits in an empty room, intending to eat them during the Chinese New Year. Although his nephews and nieces were greedy, they never took any. He bought two kilograms of frozen persimmons, which were rare here, and two kilograms of apples, which were not as famous as those in Ili at that time. Fruits are rare at this time, especially in winter. In summer, some people in the team grow peaches, crabapples, plums, etc., and there are pears, melons, and tomatoes in the fields, but in winter there is really nothing. If a family has good preservation skills and can store the big melon (the female melon with black flat seeds, similar to watermelon, but the flesh is not very sweet) until winter to eat as fruit, it is very rare. Since there is less fruit, it is naturally expensive. A kilogram of frozen persimmons costs yuan, and a kilogram of apples costs yuan, the same price as meat. After coming out of the department store, the two men were driving the carriage to go home. When they passed by a grain store, Li Long noticed a sign outside that read, "To celebrate the Spring Festival, our store is selling a batch of grain at a special price. No grain coupons are required." He immediately asked Tao Daqiang to stop the carriage and tie it up. He excitedly went into the grain store. "How do you sell the special price grain?" "Rice is 68 cents, flour is 45 cents." The two salesmen were chatting and quoted the price directly without even looking at Li Long. "Give me 100 kilograms of rice and 100 kilograms of noodles." Li Long opened his mouth. "What?" The salesperson was shocked! Many people have bought discounted grain these past two days, but they all bought in batches of three or five kilograms. How could anyone buy in batches of a hundred kilograms? How much is a hundred kilograms? The largest bag of flour now is 25 kilograms, four large bags! "One hundred kilograms of rice and one hundred kilograms of noodles, you don't have insufficient stock, do you?" Li Long asked when he saw the salesperson didn't say anything. "Of course it's enough, but do you really want to buy so much?" the salesperson confirmed again. "Of course it's real." Li Long said with a smile. These days, grains that don't require food coupons are still sold by the government, and even stale grain is accepted. You know what, it’s really old grain, and it’s a bit more expensive than the normal price. But no ticket is needed! When eight bags of rice and flour were put into the car, Li Long had used all the money he had earned from selling fish that day and added some extra. But he is happy! At least at home and in the mountains, we don’t need to eat coarse grains for a short time! But we can’t buy too much, because grains tend to get damp during the transition from winter to spring, so we can buy more after the spring. Li Long covered the rice and flour with plastic sheeting, drove the horse-drawn carriage happily home, and was already humming a song. Tao Daqiang followed beside him with envy, he wondered when he could spend money as lavishly as Brother Long! (End of this chapter)