Trouble over the purchasing business: some people had reached too far and needed their hands chopped off

After saying goodbye to Bolati, Li Long drove his Jeep out of the mountains. When he reached Qingshui River Village, Meng Hai stopped him.

Seeing Meng Hai waving by the road with a pile of things at his feet, Li Long pulled over, switched off the engine, and got out with a smile.

"Lao Meng, did you post a sentry at the village entrance? How do you know whenever I head into the mountains?"

Meng Hai laughed. "No, nothing like that. Some people in our village know we're close, so when they see you going into the mountains, they come and tell me.

"Comrade Li Long, there happens to be something I wanted to ask your advice about."

"Go ahead."

"I remember you saying that the Taibazi-making work might not last, but the work making big brooms would definitely continue for a long time.

"So I was thinking, making brooms doesn't just take strength and skill. You also have to find the materials. Achnatherum splendens is fairly easy to get-you just find a patch and cut it. But the handles aren't so easy to find.

"Last year, people from our village had to go into the mountains to cut handles. They'd used up all the ones nearby.

"So I thought I could organize a group to go into the mountains and cut handles now, during the slack farming season. Then we could sell them to people who need to make big brooms but don't have handles. At fifty or sixty cents apiece, I imagine people would be willing to buy them?"

"Lao Meng, you really have a head for business. You're cut out for it," Li Long said with a smile. "That could work. If you've got nothing else to do right now, you can organize people to head into