mesbooks Chapter 48 Liu Family Village Collects Straw
Chapter 48 Liu Family Village Collects Straw
"Xiangyang, are you sure about this?" Li Xiangyang blurted out that there would be a snow disaster this year, and Liu Guangyao turned pale upon hearing this.
He almost dropped the copper pipe in his hand, and quickly whispered a warning: "Xiangyang, we can't say things like that carelessly."
They are all elderly people who have experienced that special period, and they know in their hearts that saying this can be a big or small matter.
They understood even more clearly what the consequences would be if these words were overheard by someone with ulterior motives.
"Dad, no one can say for sure what will happen, but there's a high chance it will! So, after discussing it with my family, we decided we need to make some preparations in advance."
"Hmm." Liu Guangyao nodded, lit the copper pipe in his hand, took a few deep drags, and said thoughtfully, "Whether this news is true or not, it's always good to be prepared."
Then she turned to look at Li Xiangyang and said softly, "Xiangyang, what are your family's plans now? Is there anything we can help you with in Liujia Village...?"
"Father, I came to Liujia Village today because I need your help with something."
Li Xiangyang was waiting for Liu Guangyao to say this: "We have plenty of other things at home, but we lack fodder, so we wanted to come here to collect some straw to take back."
"oh oh"
Hearing that he only wanted to collect some straw, Liu Guangyao's expression became much more relaxed: "Just collect straw? That's not a difficult thing. Our Liu Family Village doesn't have much else, but corn and sorghum stalks are everywhere, and we usually use them as firewood."
"See how much you need, and ask Jianguo to help contact the surrounding farmers."
"Father, I've calculated it, it needs at least 10,000 jin!" Li Xiangyang held up his hand in front of Liu Guangyao and made a "1" gesture.
"Ten thousand catties?" Liu Guangyao was a little shocked. "I thought one or two thousand catties would be enough. Did your family not have any fodder reserves before?"
"This...isn't this too much? Xiangyang, are you sure you really need this much?" Zhou Chunxia was equally shocked by the number.
"Dad, Mom, my brother-in-law has already calculated this number. Could you please help me figure out how to collect this much straw quickly?"
Before returning to Liujia Village, Li Xiangyang had already told Liu Jianguo about it, so Liu Jianguo knew about it.
However, Li Xiangyang's own 10 sheep only need an additional 3,000 jin of straw, since the family already had some stored up.
He planned to sell the extra 7,000 jin of straw to other herders to help them in need and earn some extra money along the way.
When the major snowstorm hits, the price of this straw will definitely double, and then he can sell it.
Of course, he wasn't an unscrupulous businessman; he was content with making a small profit.
"Ten thousand catties is indeed a lot. Each farmer can probably only sell two or three hundred catties, and you need it urgently..."
Liu Guangyao frowned.
"Dad, could you see if you could borrow the loudspeaker from Liujia Village Brigade to broadcast this to the whole brigade?"
That would save a lot of time compared to asking door-to-door.
"We buy straw here for 3 cents a pound. If you want to sell it, have them bring it over themselves. How does that sound?"
Liu Guangyao shook his head repeatedly after hearing this.
"It's fine to borrow the brigade's broadcast system, and it's also fine to let them bring their own straw to sell, but you've set the price too high at 3 cents per pound."
"What? 3 cents a pound is expensive?" Li Xiangyang was pleasantly surprised.
He had about 200 yuan in his pocket. If he could keep the price below 3 cents per kilogram, then his 200 yuan could probably be enough to collect 10,000 kilograms of straw.
"Yes, it's too high. Some people used to sell it at the supply and marketing cooperative for only 1 or 2 cents a pound. And the supply and marketing cooperative often doesn't even accept it."
Zhou Chunxia then brewed a cup of tea and came over to hand it to Li Xiangyang.
"That's great! I was worried I didn't have enough money before I came," Li Xiangyang laughed, then asked, "How much per pound would be a suitable price?"
"We'll set the price at 1.5 cents per pound. If it's 2 cents, we'll have to haul it all the way to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell it. We can just bring it to our house here."
Liu Guangyao suggested.
"Okay, I'll do as my father says."
"Um, Xiangyang..." Zhou Chunxia suddenly spoke, wanting to say something but hesitant, and stopped herself from speaking.
"Mom, there are no outsiders here, you can just say what you want to say." Li Xiangyang said, puzzled.
"Then I'll get straight to the point." Zhou Chunxia glanced at Liu Guangyao, and seeing him nod, she turned to Li Xiangyang and said, "Although 1.5 cents per pound isn't expensive, if you want to buy over 10,000 pounds, it'll still cost 150 yuan. You don't have that much money on hand..."
Li Xiangyang immediately understood; they were worried that he didn't have enough money.
He then pulled out 10 ten-yuan bills and a large stack of small bills from his pocket and placed them on the table: "This is 219 yuan. Enough to buy 1 jin of straw."
Zhou Chunxia and Liu Guangyao were both so surprised that they were speechless for a moment.
219 yuan?
For ordinary farmers like them, they can only save ten or twenty yuan a year. So, 219 yuan would take them at least 10 years to save!
"Let's go then," Liu Guangyao said, getting up to put on his cotton-padded coat and trousers. "I'll take you to the brigade to borrow a broadcasting machine now. Jianguo, you go to the production team to borrow a scale."
"Mhm." Li Xiangyang and Liu Jianguo nodded in unison and went their separate ways.
"Feed...hey, hey hey!"
Attention all villagers! Villager Liu Guangyao's family is currently collecting straw.
It's 1.5 cents a pound. Anyone who wants to sell straw can take it to his house. The address is in the second production team of Liujia Village at the west end of the village, the house next to the well.
"Hey, hey, I'll repeat that again, all villagers, pay attention..."
The announcement was repeated three or four times before it stopped.
Li Xiangyang also went home with Liu Guangyao to wait for news.
Unexpectedly, 300 meters away from Liu's house, we saw several people dragging cartloads of straw toward Liu Guangyao's house.
These are all farmers who live relatively close to Liu Guangyao's house. As soon as they heard that Liu Guangyao's family was collecting straw, they all brought over their surplus straw.
I was afraid that if I arrived too late, they wouldn't accept me.
After all, these things are usually used for heating the kang (a traditional heated bed), and now that someone is willing to pay money to buy them, they are definitely willing to sell.
"Guangyao, I have 300 jin here, do you want to take it? You won't think it's too much, will you?" Someone recognized Li Xiangyang's father-in-law and joked.
Of course, there was also a testing element involved, fearing that if they were brought in, Liu Guangyao wouldn't accept them, and all their efforts would be in vain.
"I weigh about 200 jin (100 catties) too."
"Yes, I have 250 jin (125 catties) here."
Once someone took the lead, the others followed suit and eagerly called out their numbers.
"I'll take it." Liu Guangyao glanced at Li Xiangyang, and seeing Li Xiangyang nod, he added, "I'll take whatever you have on hand, and we'll settle the payment on the spot."
After saying this, Liu Guangyao suddenly felt a sense of pride.
The Liu family has finally made an appearance in the team today.
"Great, Brother Guangyao is so generous."
The sensible ones have already started flattering him.
When they got home, Liu Jianguo had already borrowed the scales and was helping farmers who came to sell straw to weigh the stalks of the bellflower.
"This bundle weighs 150 jin, that bundle weighs 80 jin, a total of 230 jin, which is 3.45 yuan. Here, take the money and count it."
Liu Jianguo and Li Xiangyang went out to sell fish for two days. Now, whether in conversation or in dealing with people, he appears poised and generous, and is starting to show the demeanor of a small business owner.
This was something Liu Guangyao never expected.
Seeing such a change in Liu Jianguo, Liu Guangyao became even more convinced that his previous decision to allow him to learn business from Li Xiangyang was the right one!