When Li Long turned to look, he discovered that the man calling him was Yusufu, the Hetian Jade dealer.
Yusufu did not run over. He had a stall by the roadside and only walked a few steps toward him, glancing back at his goods from time to time.
Li Long walked over instead. When he reached Yusufu, he smiled and held out his hand.
"Hello, hello, Yusufu, my friend. Why are you selling here now? Didn't you used to sell all your jade to the Jade Factory?"
Yusufu shook Li Long's hand and sighed.
"People like us make a little money passing jade from the diggers to the factories. Recently, a state-owned factory started mining over in Hotan, and the Jade Carving Factory has been getting material straight from the state-owned mine, so they're buying less from us. Besides, it's winter. Fewer diggers are digging for jade, so we can't get any and can only sell our stock, but there are fewer buyers too. Now I've got no choice. I'm planning to sell the jade I have, then buy raisins to sell in the South..."
That sounded a little absurd to Li Long-surely selling jade had to be better than selling raisins?
But then he realized.
It was 1983. The man who had once been the autonomous region's richest had started out selling raisins. At this time, plenty of people carried a sack of raisins and a bag of nang south by train to sell, then bought fashionable goods there to sell back here.
These people traveled back and forth, and as long as they did not get arrested, most soon became the first ten-thousand-yuan households here. They then moved into other trades, gradually becoming outstanding examples of wealth creation in their respective prefectures.
Hetian Jade really was cheap at