Chapter 87 Selling Off Water The Li family was selling sheep offal one by one, while Li Long and Tao Daqiang had already arrived at the big meat canteen in their horse-drawn carriage. Li Long asked Tao Daqiang to wait outside. He went in and found Zhong Guoqiang who was greeting guests there. "Hello, Manager Zhong." Li Long stepped forward and said, "I pulled the fish and sheep out of the water, look..." "Okay, I'll be right there." Zhong Guoqiang said with a smile, "Comrade Xiao Li, you're very quick. You must have gotten up very early." "It's about making money, there's nothing wrong with getting up early." Li Long replied and walked out of the cafeteria. Zhong Guoqiang followed him to the carriage and looked at the frozen sheep offal placed on it. "Well, it looks good," Zhong Guoqiang, who is also an expert, said as he looked at the waste water, "It's just a simple cleaning, right?" "Well, after it melts, you still have to wash it carefully. Since it's cleaned in the mountains, it can't be cleaned very thoroughly." Li Long explained, "So the price is not expensive, six dollars a set." "Six yuan - it's not expensive." Zhong Guoqiang weighed it casually, "It's quite heavy, maybe 40 or 50 cents per pound. OK, I'll take three plates."
Zhong Guoqiang ordered five more big carps and paid twenty-eight yuan. "Let's go to Shicheng." The business was booming, Li Long was very happy, he bought six big meat buns, and he and Tao Daqiang ate while driving the carriage away. "Brother Long, why don't we sell the fish at the black market in our county? I haven't been there for a long time, so I should be able to sell it there, right?" "No, the risk is too great. You don't want us to be arrested together." Li Long said as he drove the cart. "If we are arrested now, it's not just us who will be detained, but also the horses and carts of the team." Tao Daqiang then realized that although Li Long seemed bold in doing business, he was actually very cautious. When the two men arrived at Shicheng Old Street, it was almost twelve o'clock, the time for getting on and off the bus. Some old customers were already familiar with the fishmonger Li Long. When they saw him dragging a plastic sheet carrying not only fish but also sheep offal, they immediately surrounded him. Tao Daqiang was still waiting in the distance with his carriage. Li Long no longer had any worries and was setting up a stall there, shouting: "Selling fish, big fish for two dollars, fifteen small fish for two dollars, and a set of lamb offal for six dollars, it's a bargain!" When he was setting up the stall and shouting, people gathered around him, and Li Long also discovered that he was not the only one doing business here. Some people carry baskets to sell melon seeds and peanuts, some carry plates to sell buns, some sell fried dough twists, etc. They basically sell food. It seems that the time has come when everyone can see the changes and become bolder. "Can the offal be cheaper?" someone offered a price. "No," Li Long said with a smile, "We just slaughtered the sheep yesterday, and we washed it in the snow. You can take it home, thaw it, wash it, and cook it. Look at how heavy it is. It's less than one yuan per kilogram, and there's so much oil. It's very cheap!" "That's right, look at this lard, it's good." Someone with sharp eyes saw the lard inside and immediately squatted down to take a closer look. "Everyone, come and take a look. Sheep offal with suet. Six dollars for a set. Very cheap... First come, first served!" Soon, someone took a set of shoes, paid the money and left. There were a total of five sets of items on the stall. If you didn't buy one, you knew it would be bought by someone else. Li Long thoughtfully threaded a thin iron wire through the launch tube and made a handle for easy carrying, which saved the buyer from having to find something to put it in. Soon, all five plates were sold out. Some people left in disappointment, while others started looking for fish.
After waiting for more than half an hour, the fish were almost sold out. Li Long went to the carriage again, dragged the remaining three plates of offal and fish over, and then started shouting again. By 2pm, all the fish and offal were sold out, and Li Long earned more than 100 yuan. He and Tao Daqiang got on the carriage and went back. "Daqiang, we won't sell fish anymore. We'll do it after the New Year." Li Long said in the carriage, "We've worked hard for half a month. We should take a good rest and have a good sleep in the remaining days." To be honest, Li Long has basically not had a good night's sleep since he went into the mountains to pull wood. Even if he was young, he couldn't stand such a hardship. If there weren't meat and fish at home and delicious food every day, he probably wouldn't be able to endure it. "Yeah." Tao Daqiang nodded, still feeling a little empty. Ever since Li Long asked him to be his partner, he has something to do every day and doesn't have to stay at home doing nothing, which makes him feel that life is quite meaningful. But now everything is suddenly fine, and Tao Daqiang doesn't know what to do in the next few days. Li Long could understand Tao Daqiang's thoughts, but he didn't tell him anything. He had to walk his own path in life, and Tao Daqiang also needed to use his brain. The two men arrived in Ma County. Li Long went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a few locks, and then went to his newly bought big house and locked some doors and replaced some locks. This will be very useful in the future, so it’s more convenient to use your own lock. After driving the carriage to the stable and handing it over to Lao Luo, Li Long and Tao Daqiang separated. When he was almost at Li's house, Li Long saw someone carrying a sheep into the water and walking out. It was the team's accountant, Chen Qiang. He saw Li Long and said with a smile: "Xiaolong, are you back from selling fish?" "Yes, Brother Chen Qiang, are you going back?" "Look, I got the offal and have to go back and wash it. I'm going to make oil today. I was quick and got the last plate. If I were later, it would be gone. Xiaolong, are there any more sheep offal?" "No more." Li Long said, "There was no more for a while afterwards." "Then I am really lucky." Chen Qiang carried it into the water and returned briskly. Li Jianguo was washing his hands in the yard. He didn't expect that the dozen or so plates of offal in his home would be sold out so quickly. I earned more than a hundred yuan in less than a day - this is a really fast way to make money! Seeing Li Long coming back, Li Jianguo felt that the money in his hand was a little hot, and hurriedly handed it to Li Long: "Xiaolong, here, take this money." "I'll take 60, and you can keep the rest, big brother." Li Long said, "There are many places in the back of the house where we need money." Li Jianguo didn't want to take the money at all. Li Long felt that he should keep it for his eldest brother. In the end, Liang Yuemei stepped forward and Li Long took 80 yuan, and Li Jianguo kept the rest. Even so, Li Jianguo felt that he had taken advantage of his younger brother. Li Long didn’t think so much about it - he had been eating without vomiting in the past few years, and now it was time to pay back. After staying at home for two days, on the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, the day before the Chinese New Year, Li Long took enough bullets and drove the carriage into the mountains again. He is getting ready to hunt yellow sheep. This was his last planned trip into the mountains before the New Year. No matter whether he could catch any yellow sheep or not, he would not come again until the New Year.
I need to rest comfortably for a few days and recharge my energy. (End of this chapter)