Qiangqiang's schooling was a major matter, but the other things could not be neglected either. Li Qiang and Li Juan boarded the eastbound train, while Li Long hurried to contact the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. He also had to arrange the broom-making work. This year, Li Xiangqian assigned Li Long an order for thirty thousand big brooms.
Although the number declined every year, Li Long said nothing and passed the work straight on to Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming. They organized people to do this year-round anyway. Without needing a reminder from him, they had actually already started making them.
The delivery deadline was more relaxed than in previous years. They only needed to transport the brooms to the Autonomous Prefecture's Supply and Marketing Cooperative before the end of September. Li Xiangqian instructed Li Long, "First, the quality has to meet the standard, and delivery has to be on time."
In Li Xiangqian's office, before Li Long even asked, Li Xiangqian explained, "Our big brooms are actually quite popular in the market in Inland China, especially with state-owned organizations.
"After all, they feel more comfortable to use than bamboo brooms. They cost a little more, but they last. One broom can sweep for six months without a problem. But precisely because they're good, other people have taken notice. Achnatherum splendens doesn't only grow here. They have it in Gansu Province too. After we opened up the market, some people there noticed it and thought it was a way to make a fortune. Then they organized people to make them too, at lower prices than ours.
"So it's hard for us to compete. After all, we're so far away, and there are transport costs and such. They're much closer, and some places there are even poorer than here.
"They can sell