For the next four days, Li Long went to the fields to pick cotton and help keep an eye on the Odd Jobs.
Perhaps word had spread about Li Long beating that man that day. Although they hired even more Odd Jobs each day afterward, everyone behaved while picking cotton, and there were no more instances of careless picking and waste.
Li Long wanted to go again on the fifth day, but he could not, because Huang Lei arrived.
After taking the train to Wu City, Huang Lei called Li Long and asked how many trucks he should hire there to haul all the wild mushrooms from Ma County.
"Three trucks. At least three," Li Long said. "Dried wild mushrooms don't weigh much for their bulk. I've got over five tons here, so work it out yourself."
So Huang Lei arrived with three trucks.
Li Long waited for him at the Purchasing Station.
"I thought you weren't coming." That was the first thing Li Long said when Huang Lei arrived at the Purchasing Station with the trucks and got out. "If you'd waited any longer, I was going to sell these dried wild mushrooms to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative."
"You can't do that," Huang Lei said apologetically. "It couldn't be helped. Something happened back home. There was trouble with my sales channels-the people who've been buying my wild mushrooms all along."
"Trouble?" Li Long was a little surprised. "The commodity economy's already in full swing. What sort of trouble could there be? Tax evasion?"
As he spoke, he led Huang Lei to the reception room to rest.
"No, family trouble. These people all have a good eye for opportunities. They started doing small business as soon as reform and opening-up began. Their families have money, and their kids did