Chapter 56: The jade is fine, but it won't fetch a good "price

Li Long was woken up by Li Jianguo.

Hearing his eldest brother's voice outside, he climbed up from the kang, gave a response, rubbed his eyes, wiped his face with his hands, and began to get dressed.

At this moment, he truly did not want to crawl out from under the covers—the stove had gone out and the room was very cold; only the inside of the quilt was warm. The temperature outside had even dropped to minus thirty degrees; just thinking about it made him feel miserable.

But for the sake of a better life, Li Long knew he could not be lazy. Time was precious; if he didn't work hard to strive now, no one would wait for him once the New Year passed.

After getting dressed and walking into the west room, Li Long saw that his sister-in-law had already prepared the meal and was setting it on the table. Li Juan and Li Qiang had not yet gotten up.

"Should I have your brother drive you to Shicheng?" Liang Yuemei said while setting down the chopsticks. "That way, you two can look out for each other."

"No need, no need," Li Long waved his hand. "It's too much trouble, and my brother needs to stay home to catch fish. As for Shicheng, I know my way around quite well."

Li Jianguo also didn't think anything would happen to a grown young man going to Shicheng. Li Long hadn't told the family about the time he and Tao Daqiang were intercepted halfway.

After eating, Li Long wrapped the two pieces of jade in cloth, then put them into a urea bag to carry on his back. Liang Yuemei handed him a satchel

"There are white flour steamed buns, two pieces of mutton, and some pickles inside. Eat them on the road if you get hungry. Drink the warm water in your thermos early on, and when you see a place, refill it..."

"Alright." Li Long took it. As the eldest sister-in-law acting as a mother, Liang Yuemei had indeed looked after him like her own child these past few years.

Waving goodbye to his brother and sister-in-law, Li Long put on his cotton hat and headed out.

By the time he reached the county town, dawn had broken. Seeing the state-owned shops opening one after another, Li Long thought for a moment and headed to the procurement station.

Chen Hongjun was indeed there. Li Long went over to greet him and asked with a smile

"Comrade Chen, I have something to ask you. Do you know where the Wucheng Jade Factory is located?"

"That... I don't know. I only know that the jade factory belongs to the Second Light Industry Bureau. You should be able to find out if you go to the Bureau and ask."

"Alright, thank you." Li Long expressed his thanks and left to go to the Da Rou Canteen. He bought two hot steamed buns and continued his journey toward Shicheng while eating.

By the time he reached Shicheng, there were still half an hour left before the bus departed.

He bought a ticket and boarded. There weren't many people on the bus. Li Long found a seat toward the middle—the buses back then had no air conditioning; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them mere iron shells. Consequently, the 150-kilometer journey was very cold, and he had to endure it.

The fare was four yuan. Li Long knew that once spring arrived and the series of reforms began, long-distance buses from Wucheng to this county would be established, and the fare would drop to three and a half yuan.

He folded the urea bag and tucked it under his seat, not even worrying about it being stolen, and instead held the satchel tightly in his arms.

When the time came, the driver boarded with a large water flask, the conductor checked the tickets, and the bus departed.

The roads back then were not as smooth as in later generations, and combined with the thick ice and snow, the ride was quite bumpy. Li Long had traveled this way recently, so he had nothing much to say about it. By the time he got off at Wucheng South Station, it was already mid-afternoon.

There were accommodations nearby—the famous Bayi Guesthouse, a convenient place for travelers to stay and catch buses. The Bayi Guesthouse was run by the Civil Affairs Bureau; it was originally called the Military Supply Station and was the preferred lodging for many people traveling to and from Wucheng. Later, it was renamed the Bayi Hotel.

A night's stay in a triple room at this time cost one yuan and eighty cents.

After getting off the bus, Li Long asked the gatekeeper at the Bayi Guesthouse for the location of the Second Light Industry Bureau. The man even told him how to take the bus there, which made Li Long feel the warmth of the Wucheng people.

Upon arriving at the Second Light Industry Bureau, Li Long first went to a nearby commissary to buy a pack of cigarettes—at this time, they weren't called shops, but commissaries—and then took the cigarettes to find the elderly gatekeeper.

Due to long-standing tradition, the gatekeepers were usually elderly men. The old man accepted the cigarettes, and after Li Long lit one for him with a lighter, he pointed out the location of the jade factory.

Li Long hurriedly thanked him and rushed toward the jade factory with the urea bag on his back.

By the time he reached the jade factory, the sun was already setting, and they were about to finish work. Li Long hurriedly explained his purpose to the guard, who said he couldn't make the decision himself and called the Raw Material Procurement Department inside.

Carrying the urea bag, Li Long felt somewhat anxious while waiting. If they wouldn't accept it, his trip would have been in vain.

Soon, two men emerged from the jade factory. One was about thirty years old with an upright posture, and the other was in his fifties, slightly hunched, and wearing glasses. Both men looked somewhat surprised when they saw Li Long—he certainly didn't look like a traditional "jade farmer."

"Young comrade, are you here to sell jade?" the tall man asked.

"Yes." Li Long took off the urea bag and asked, "Can we look at it now?"

"Come, let's go to the office," the older man said. "What kind of jade is it?"

"Mahe Green Jade," Li Long replied.

He immediately saw a flash of disappointment on both their faces.

Although the disappointment was fleeting, Li Long saw it.

He thought for a moment and said

"Let's look at it now. Otherwise, if we go to the office and you decide it's not worth buying, it'll be a lot of trouble." As he spoke, he leaned over to pull the jade out of the urea bag, unwrapped the cloth, and presented the stones before them.

The two men exchanged a glance, and the older man took the river-worn stones to examine them.

This piece of jade looked like a ruler or perhaps a natural paperweight. It weighed about four or five kilograms and felt very warm and smooth—even though the outdoor temperature was below minus twenty degrees, it wasn't very cold to the touch.

"Good jade," the old man sighed. "Such river-worn material is rare even among the Mahe Green Jade we collect."

"Is the jade very good?"

"Very good!" the old man said with certainty, then pointed behind him. "Let's go. We'll talk in the office."

Only then did Li Long feel slightly relieved.

Following the two men into the office, he felt the warmth from the heating, and the cold immediately vanished. Instead, his feet and ears began to itch—a sign of mild frostbite.

"If this piece of material were sent to the interior, I'd have to give you at least a hundred yuan per kilogram," the old man remarked. "But here, we have too much good raw material, so prices don't rise easily. Therefore, I can only give you eighty yuan per kilogram. What do you think..."

"Deal," Li Long agreed immediately.

"Actually, the quality of this green jade is excellent; it meets the first-grade standard or higher," the middle-aged man beside him said, taking the jade to inspect it. "Usually, Mahe Green Jade has black spots, but I see yours has none. It's very rare!"

"I have another piece." Li Long took out the other piece from the urea bag, unwrapped it, and placed it on the table.

"This one..." The old man examined it carefully, used a flashlight to inspect it, then picked it up to weigh it in his hand. "The quality is slightly lower, but it's actually still quite good."

After weighing the two pieces of jade, they paid Li Long a total of nine hundred and fifty-six yuan. The smaller piece weighed 4.2 kilograms and was priced at 336 yuan; the larger piece weighed 12.4 kilograms and was sold at 50 yuan per kilogram, totaling 620 yuan.

Li Long suddenly felt as if he had struck it rich!

This feeling was even more intense than the feeling of receiving over a hundred thousand yuan in year-end dividends after handing over land to a cooperative in later years!