After that, Li Long sold another five fish outside the pork canteen. One of the carp was a little small, and since the buyer did not want a small fish, he charged only eighty cents for it.
He pocketed six yuan and eighty cents.
Li Long thought things were going quite well, but then a man wearing a Zhongshan suit came out of the pork canteen and spoke to him quite politely:
"Young man, listen, young man. We don't personally mind you selling things here, but this sort of thing doesn't comply with current policy. Could you go somewhere else?"
Since the man was asking nicely, Li Long could hardly argue. He smiled and said:
"All right, sir. We'll leave right away."
The two of them pulled the sled eastward.
"Brother Long, where are we going next?" Tao Daqiang asked, looking at the sack, which still held a third of their fish.
"To the staff housing compound," Li Long said with a smile. "The Grain Bureau's first." He remembered that, at this time, both the Grain Bureau and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative were considered well-off organizations. He did not quite dare go to the cooperative for fear of being reported, but the Grain Bureau should be fine.
The Grain Bureau was on the eastern side of the county town. There were three buildings in its compound, with the entrance opening directly onto the road. When Li Long and Tao Daqiang arrived, the large iron gates were open. Li Long pulled the sled inside, and someone poked his head out of the window of the gatehouse to ask:
"What are you here for?"
"Looking for my uncle. Bringing him some things," Li Long answered, and the man ducked back inside.
It was too cold outside.
Once inside the compound, Li Long pulled the sled around, looking for people. Whenever someone came downstairs, he went straight over to ask.
Before long, he had sold another five or six fish.
He had not received cash for all of them, though. He had traded two fish for several kilograms of cornmeal and another two kilograms of wheat flour.
Li Long thought this was a good arrangement and began calling out to everyone he encountered:
"I've got fresh fish for sale! I'll trade for rice or flour, too!"
Hearing that they could trade rice or flour, people began asking:
"What's the exchange rate?"
"These big fish are all two kilograms each. Two kilograms of rice for one, or three kilograms of flour. If neither works, six kilograms of cornmeal will do."
Meat and fish were hard to come by at the time, so people brought rice and flour to trade. Most brought cornmeal, with only a few trading rice or wheat flour.
Before long, however, a man in his fifties came out of the gatehouse and pointed at Li Long and Tao Daqiang, shouting:
"Get out of here! If you don't leave, I'll call someone to arrest you!"
Li Long hurriedly said:
"Sir, sir, we're leaving right now—here, let me give you a fish. Thank you!" Li Long signaled Tao Daqiang to hurry up and settle the grain trades, then took a silver carp weighing about a kilogram out of the Urea Sack and handed it over.
The man hesitated before taking it, but still said:
"Hurry up and leave. It's almost quitting time. If the officials come by, you'll be in trouble, and so will I!"
Li Long smiled and said:
"We're leaving right away. Right away."
Once they had finished this round of trades, Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled their now-heavier sled out through the gates.
A few silver carp and some smaller crucian carp remained, unwanted. The silver carp had too many fine bones and were a nuisance to eat, while the crucian carp were too small and had too little meat, so everyone had passed them over.
"Brother Long, what do we do with the fish that are left?" Tao Daqiang asked, looking at the rice and flour on the sled.
He felt as though he had never seen so much rice and wheat flour in his life.
Although the Production Team grew rice, the amount of rice and flour distributed to each household was not much.
Tao Daqiang was getting excited.
"Sell them, of course. Keep selling." Li Long glanced at the sky. "Let's find somewhere to sell the rest, then head home."
"Would anyone still want these fish?" Tao Daqiang had watched people push them back and forth as they picked through the catch. These were all the rejects.
"Don't worry. Someone will want them." Li Long smiled and pointed at the distant figures behind them.
"Believe it or not, if I shouted that these fish were ten cents each right now, they'd all rush over to grab them."
Looking at the people who seemed to be trailing them, Tao Daqiang asked curiously:
"Why are they following us?"
"To pick up a bargain. They're thinking that if we can't sell the little fish and end up throwing them away, they can rush over and pick them up." Li Long had encountered similar situations in his previous life and knew exactly what these people were thinking.
"So where are we going to sell the fish?" In the end, Tao Daqiang's attention returned to the fish.
"Follow me," Li Long said as he walked. "There used to be some wealthy households in our county. Let's go ask there."
The county town was an Ancient City, first established as a county during the Qianlong era. Several hundred years had passed since then, so it was hardly surprising that a few wealthy households had emerged.
Although those households' fortunes had changed during certain turbulent periods, even a camel starved to death was still bigger than a horse. So Li Long pulled the sled to the northeastern part of town.
It was an old-fashioned courtyard house with its solid wooden gates shut tight.
Seeing the closed gates, Tao Daqiang looked at Li Long.
"If you want to make money, you can't be afraid of a little trouble." Li Long smiled and stepped forward to knock.
After a few knocks, someone called from inside:
"What is it? Stop knocking, I'm coming!"
"I'm selling fish, wild-caught fish. Would you like some, sir? If not, there's no need to open the gate." Li Long spoke very politely.
"Let me have a look." The speaker was in his sixties. He opened the wooden gate and looked toward the sled.
"Silver carp and small crucian carp. What do you think?" Li Long took all the fish out of the Urea Sack.
"Good, good. These are nice fish. They look very fresh. Good for soup!" The old man nodded. "How much?"
"Eighty cents per silver carp. The crucian carp go as one lot-there must be two or three kilograms here. How about one yuan for the lot?"
Only five or six silver carp remained, along with a few crucian carp, and Li Long did not want to keep making the rounds. His face was numb from the cold, and he worried that if he stayed out much longer, he would get frostbite.
"All right. A fair price, and these silver carp are good, too. Fine flesh, very tasty."
"You really know your food!" Li Long gave him a thumbs-up. "Shall I carry them inside for you?"
"Please do." The old man went inside to fetch the money, while Li Long carried the fish in.
He received six yuan in total; the old man had rounded the amount up.
"Now we've got something tasty to eat today," the old man said cheerfully.
Li Long took the opportunity to look around the courtyard. Though old, the house's beams and framework showed that it was no ordinary home.
Even a wrecked ship still had plenty of nails left. Although those turbulent periods might strip away layer after layer of wealth, there were always ways to cope.
This was no ordinary household.
With all the fish sold, Li Long and Tao Daqiang pulled the sled home. As they walked, Li Long said to Tao Daqiang:
"Daqiang, when we get back, take a piece of meat, some rice and wheat flour, and some cornmeal. I'll give you ten yuan as well. That'll settle up for today."
Tao Daqiang had put in the labor, and Li Long certainly would not make him work for nothing. But splitting everything equally between them? Li Long was no fool.
Giving him supplies as well as money was already quite generous.
"No, no, Brother Long. Like I said before, keep the money with you. Rice, flour, and meat are enough for me." As soon as Tao Daqiang heard that Li Long intended to give him money, he hurriedly waved his hands in refusal. "If I take too much, my dad won't let me come again."
Well, Li Long knew that was understandable, too.
As they passed the grain and cooking oil shop, Li Long spent another fifty cents on a bucket and bought five kilograms of rapeseed oil. Then they headed straight home.
(End of chapter)
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