In June, the wheat around Beiting Prefecture had filled out, and the green kernels were already slightly firm. Children who loved a treat had already started roasting wheat out in the fields.
They would grab a handful of Wheat Ears and roast them over a fire, turning them until all the awns had burned away and the ears were blackened. By then, the green kernels were more or less cooked, ready to be rubbed free and eaten.
Roasting wheat took some skill. The flames had to touch only the Wheat Ears, not the stalks, as they were turned. The stalks were thin and could not withstand the fire; they would burn through at once, dropping the Wheat Ears into the flames and making them inedible.
Li Long sped along Wuyi Road in his Jeep, looking at the wheat fields on either side and wondering whether he should stop somewhere on the way back, light a fire, and experience the taste of roasted wheat.
It was already 1985, and rural areas no longer lacked grain. Usually, nobody would bother you if you lit a fire beside a wheat field to roast some wheat... It was like what Runtu had said about picking a melon beside a melon patch to eat: the owner would not call it stealing and would let you eat it.
Of course, it was only a passing thought. Li Long's main task now was to get to Beiting City and find Chen Hongjun, to ask whether he knew any suitable sales channels for the other goods in his Purchasing Station's storeroom.
If he did, that would naturally be best. If not, Li Long would consider going to the relevant state-run and private companies in Wu City and Beiting City to look.
Although Beiting City was not as green