Chapter 33: A Perfect Completion Today

Next, Li Long sold another five fish at the entrance of the Large Meat Canteen. One of the carp was a bit small, and since the customer didn't want small fish, he only collected eighty cents from them.

He had six yuan and eighty cents in hand.

Li Long felt this was quite good, but then a man wearing a Zhongshan suit walked out of the Large Meat Canteen and spoke quite cordially

"Little brother, I say, little brother, we don't have any objection to you selling things here, but currently, this stuff doesn't align with policy. Could you see if you can go somewhere else?"

Since the man was advising him kindly, Li Long didn't feel it right to argue. He smiled and said

"Alright then, big brother, we'll leave immediately."

The two of them pulled the sled and headed east.

"Brother Long, where are we going next?" Tao Daqiang asked, looking at the remaining one-third of the fish in the bag.

"To the residential compound," Li Long said with a smile. "To the Grain Bureau compound first." He remembered that at this time, both the Grain Bureau and the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives were considered well-off units. He didn't dare go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative for fear of being reported, but the Grain Bureau should be fine.

The Grain Bureau was located on the east side of the county town, with three buildings in the courtyard and the entrance opening directly onto the roadside. When Li Long and the other arrived, the large iron gates were open. As Li Long pulled the sled inside, someone poked their head out of a window in the gatehouse to ask

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for my uncle, delivering something," Li Long replied, and the person retracted their head.

It was too cold outside.

Once inside the courtyard, Li Long began searching for someone while pulling the sled. When someone came down from a building, he immediately approached them to ask.

In a short while, he managed to sell five or six fish.

However, he didn't take all the payment in cash; two of the fish were exchanged for a few kilograms of cornmeal, and he also traded for two kilograms of white flour.

Li long thought this was a good deal, so whenever he encountered someone, he would start asking

"I have fresh fish for sale, and I'll take rice or flour in exchange!"

Upon hearing that he would accept rice or flour, people began to ask

"How do you trade?"

"My big fish are two kilograms each. I'll trade one for two kilograms of rice, or three kilograms of flour. If that's not enough, six kilograms of cornmeal will do."

At this time, eating meat was not easy. People began bringing rice and flour to trade; it was mostly cornmeal, with a few scattered instances of people trading rice or white flour, though those were rare.

However, not long after, a man in his fifties came out from the gatehouse, pointing at Li Long and the other and shouting

"Get out of here, quickly! If you don't leave, I'll call people to arrest you!"

Li Long hurriedly said

"Hey, uncle, uncle, I'm leaving right away—here, here, let me give you a fish, thank you!" Li Long signaled Tao Daqiang to hurry with the rice and flour transactions, while he pulled a silver carp weighing about one kilogram out of a urea bag and handed it over.

The man hesitated before accepting it, but still said

"Hurry up and leave. It's almost the end of the shift. If the leaders arrive, you'll be in trouble, and I'll be in trouble too!"

Li Long smiled and said

"We're leaving, we're leaving right away."

After finishing the exchange of the rice and flour, Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled the now-heavier sled out of the gate.

A few silver carp and some smaller crucian carp were left over with no takers. The silver carp had bones that were too fine and were too much trouble to eat, and the crucian carp were too small with too little meat, so they were rejected.

"Brother Long, what should we do with the rest of the fish?" Tao Daqiang asked, looking at the rice and flour on the sled.

He felt as though he had never seen so much rice and white flour in his life.

Although the production team also grew rice, the rations of rice and flour distributed to them were not much.

Tao Daqiang was somewhat excited.

"Sell them, keep selling," Li Long said, looking at the sky. "Let's find a place to try and sell all the fish before we head back."

"There probably won't be anyone for these fish anymore, right?" Tao Daqiang had seen with his own eyes how these fish were pushed aside and rejected.

"Don't worry, someone will want them." Li Long smiled and pointed to the distant figures behind them, saying

"Believe it or not, if I shout right now that these fish are ten cents a piece, they will definitely come running to grab them."

Looking at the people following them faintly, Tao Daqiang asked curiously

"Why are they following us?"

"To pick up the scraps. They're thinking that if we can't sell them and end up throwing the small fish away, they'll definitely run over to scavenge them." Li Long had encountered similar situations in his previous life and knew exactly what these people were thinking.

"Then where are we going to sell the fish?" Tao Daqiang's gaze eventually fell back onto the fish.

"Follow me," Li Long said as he walked. "There used to be wealthy households in our county; let's go ask there."

The county town was an ancient city, originally established during the Qianlong era. It had been several hundred years since then, so it wasn't strange for a few wealthy families to exist.

Although the assets of these wealthy families had changed through certain special eras, a "starving camel is still bigger than a horse." Thus, Li Long pulled the sled to the northeast part of the city.

It was an old-style courtyard with heavy wooden gates tightly closed.

Seeing the gates shut, Tao Daqiang looked at Li Long.

"If you want to make money, don't be afraid of trouble," Li Long smiled and stepped forward to knock on the door.

After a few knocks, someone shouted from inside

"What is it? Stop knocking, I'm coming!"

"I'm selling fish, wild fish. Would an elderly person like to buy some? If not, don't bother opening up," Li Long spoke very politely.

"Let me see." The speaker was in his sixties; he opened the wooden gate and looked down at the sled.

"Silver carp, small crucian carp, what do you think?" Li Long took all the fish out of the urea bag.

"Not bad, not bad. These fish are good, they look quite fresh. They'll be great for making soup!" The old man nodded. "How much are you selling them for?"

"Silver carp are eighty cents a piece. For the crucian carp, I'll sell them by the pile. This pile is about two or three kilograms; would you give me one yuan?"

There were about five or six silver carp left, and not many crucian carp either. Li Long didn't want to keep running. His face was frozen stiff, and he worried that if he stayed any longer, he would get frostbite.

"Alright, the price is good. These silver carp are good too, the meat is fine and delicious."

"You really are a connoisseur!" Li Long gave a thumbs up. "Shall I bring them in for you?"

"Alright." The old man went inside to get money while Li Long carried the fish in.

He collected a total of six yuan; the old man had rounded it up.

"We'll have something delicious today," the old man said happily.

While taking the fish in, Li Long glanced around the courtyard. Although it was old, the beam structure suggested it was not simple.

Even a broken boat has three layers of nails; although layers might be scraped off during certain special eras, there are always ways to cope.

This family was not to be trifled with.

With the fish all sold, Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled the sled back. As they walked, Li Long said to Tao Daqiang

"Daqiang, when we get back, take a piece of meat, some rice, white flour, and some cornmeal. I'll give you another ten yuan. That will settle the accounts for today."

Tao Daqiang had put in the labor, so Li Long certainly wouldn't let him work for nothing. But as for splitting everything equally, Li Long was no fool.

Giving him goods and money—this was already quite generous.

"No, no, no, Brother Long, it's the same as I said before. Keep the money with you. As long as I have rice, flour, and meat, it's enough." Upon hearing that Li Long wanted to give him money, Tao Daqiang hurriedly waved his hands in refusal. "If I take too much, my father won't let me come anymore."

Fine, Li Long knew that was normal.

Passing by an oil shop, Li Long spent another fifty cents to buy a bucket and filled it with five kilograms of vegetable oil. After that, they raced toward home.