Chapter 37: Xu Hong's Schemes

Li Yi was in an excellent mood today. Between selling wild produce in the morning and cold noodles at noon, he had pocketed over 600 yuan in just a single day. Even after accounting for various expenses, his net profit for the day reached 400 yuan. At a time when the private economy was still a subject of debate, such an income was absolutely staggering—even Li Yi himself was somewhat surprised.

Of course, this was largely due to the significant increase in the number of people assigned to gather mushrooms during this period. Originally, only Dongzi and his group were picking for Li Yi, bringing in at most a little over a hundred jin a day, or perhaps 150 to 160 jin if they hit a particularly good patch. But now, every child in the village who could run was involved, totaling nearly forty kids. With more hands, the yield naturally rose; last night, the mountain goods delivered to Li Yi’s house reached over 800 jin, valued at nearly 600 yuan.

Although Li Yi knew this line of work wouldn’t last forever, it still brought him joy. At the very least, he could use this small business to earn his "first pot of gold" before the household contract responsibility system was fully implemented. What Li Yi did not know, however, was that trouble was quickly heading his way.

Xu Hong had asked for leave again today, claiming he was feeling unwell and needed to see a doctor in the county. Although Zhang Tongfu was unhappy with his frequent requests for leave, he figured that since the spring plowing had just ended and the autumn harvest was still some time away, the production team didn't have a heavy workload. Consequently, he turned a blind eye and approved the request.

But no one could have guessed that Xu Hong’s leave wasn't for a doctor’s visit, but to track Li Yi. Ever since he learned that Li Yi was secretly running a small business in the county, Xu Hong’s mind had been racing. He couldn't manage the cold noodle business, but that didn't matter—there was still the mushroom business, which required no special skill. Xu Hong was confident that as a high school graduate, he could handle it just as well if he could only figure out Li Yi’s sales channels.

Therefore, Xu Hong arrived near the county town early today to keep watch on Li Yi, not daring to follow him directly from the village for fear of being noticed. When he saw Li Yi delivering the mushrooms to the state-run restaurant, he immediately felt he had uncovered the core secret to Li Yi’s wealth. Excited, once Li Yi had left, Xu Hong walked straight into the state-run restaurant.

The staff member inside noticed someone entering and called out, "Comrade, we don't open for business until after eleven!"

Xu Hong quickly replied, "Hello, comrade, I’m not here to eat!"

As soon as he spoke, the staff member frowned and asked, "If you aren't here to eat, why are you in a state-run restaurant?" Like the workers at the supply and marketing cooperatives, everyone in the state-run restaurant—from the head chef down to the waitstaff—held "iron rice bowl" positions as official employees. Therefore, one should never compare the restaurant staff of this era to those of the future; if they felt like snapping at you, they would. You only had to look at the walls of the supply and marketing cooperatives, where it was explicitly written: "Abusing or beating customers is strictly prohibited!"

Ignoring the staff member’s attitude, Xu Hong hurriedly asked, "I just wanted to ask if you are buying mushrooms here?"

The staff member glanced at him and said, "We are buying, of course!"

"And... how much do you pay per jin?"

"That depends on the quality. High quality can fetch six or seven jiao, while average quality is about three or four," the staff member replied indifferently.

Hearing that a jin of mushrooms could sell for so much, and thinking of the Nianzi Mountain behind their village covered in them, Xu Hong immediately felt as if piles of money were beckoning to him. "Thank you, comrade. I’ll bring you a batch tomorrow!" Xu Hong said.

"Fine!"

With that, Xu Hong left the state-run restaurant in high spirits. However, he did not know that just minutes after he left, Liu Jingshan arrived at the front desk and gathered the staff. "Everyone, come here for a moment," he said.

Once they were assembled, Liu Jingshan announced loudly, "I have an announcement: from now on, aside from Brother Li Yi, we will not be accepting any more wild produce from anyone else!"

"Director, why not?" someone asked in surprise.

Liu Jingshan explained, "Our restaurant’s mushroom consumption isn't that high, and we don't supply that much to the city. Before, when Brother Li Yi brought in a hundred jin or so, it was fine, but now he’s bringing several hundred jin a day, which is more than enough. Why should we take from others?"

The staff then remembered that the man had delivered over 800 jin of goods today, with mushrooms alone accounting for over 600 jin. Moreover, mushrooms couldn't be stored for long; if they couldn't be sold on the day, they had to be dried. Buying too much was indeed a logistical headache. Liu Jingshan didn't care what they thought and left after delivering the order.

Xu Hong, meanwhile, had no idea that his mushroom business had died before it had even begun.

At noon, Xu Hong hid in a small grove far from the sugar factory, enduring the scorching sun and mosquito bites, watching with jealousy as Li Yi "tearfully" pocketed large sums of money. On the way back, Xu Hong was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. He had seen the cart full of produce delivered to the restaurant—at least several hundred jin. According to the staff, at six or seven jiao per jin, those goods alone would net that good-for-nothing a few hundred yuan today.

Xu Hong knew that the money Li Yi gave the village children wasn't much—four or five yuan a day for the older ones, and only one or two for the little ones. He was a profiteer, a total profiteer! He didn't have to do anything himself; he just delivered the produce the children picked to the county, and he made hundreds of yuan. There could be no easier money to earn in this world.

And then there was the cold noodle business. With hundreds of people lining up every day, even if he only made five cents profit per person, that would be dozens of yuan! And given that good-for-nothing profiteer’s nature, he was clearly making more than five cents. It was obvious the cold noodle business was doing exceptionally well.

More importantly, mushroom gathering was seasonal, and the yield wasn't guaranteed; once the weather turned cold, the mushrooms would be gone. But the cold noodle business was different—it could be run year-round. It was a golden goose that laid eggs every day! It was a pity that he, a genuine native of Qin Province, didn't know how to make them. How frustrating!

Xu Hong secretly decided that he would snatch Li Yi’s mushroom business, and since he couldn't run the cold noodle business, he would destroy it. All the way back, he plotted how to steal Li Yi’s business while simultaneously framing him. After much thought, Xu Hong decided that no matter what, he would go to the county tomorrow and report Li Yi for speculation and profiteering.

This way, he could seize the mushroom trade. Xu Hong estimated that even if Li Yi weren't sentenced to prison, he would at least be locked up for three to five months. Even if that good-for-nothing got out eventually, it would be almost autumn, the mushroom season would be ending, and he would have already made his money. Perfect! Thinking of this, Xu Hong’s steps grew much lighter.