Chapter 37: The Calculation of the Little Man

Li You's mood is very good today. From selling mountain goods in the morning to selling cold noodles at noon, he has made more than 600 yuan in just one day. Even if all kinds of expenses are deducted, the net profit for today can also reach 400 yuan. At this time when the private ownership economy is still being discussed, such an income is definitely astonishing. Even Li You himself is a little surprised. Of course, this is mainly due to the significant increase in the number of people responsible for picking mushrooms during this period. Originally, only Dongzi and them picked mushrooms for Li You, and at most it was only a hundred catties a day. If they encountered a mushroom tray, it could occasionally reach a hundred and fifty or sixty catties. But now as long as the children in the village who can run have all come, there are nearly forty people. With more people, the output naturally increases. The mountain goods delivered to Li You's house last night reached more than 800 catties, worth nearly 600 yuan. Although Li You also knows that this kind of business will not last long, it still makes him happy. At least he can earn the first bucket of gold through doing this kind of small business before the implementation of the household contract responsibility system. But what Li You doesn't know is that his trouble will come soon! Xu Hong asked for leave again today on the grounds that he was not feeling well and needed to go to the county to see a doctor. Although Zhang Tongfu was dissatisfied with his behavior of asking for leave every now and then, considering that the spring plowing had just ended not long ago and there was still some time before the autumn harvest, the tasks of the production team were not heavy. So he just turned a blind eye and approved his leave! But no one could have imagined that Xu Hong's asking for leave was not to see a doctor, but to see Li You. Ever since he learned that Li You was quietly doing small business in the county town, Xu Hong's mind became active. It doesn't matter if he can't do the cold noodle business. Isn't there still the mushroom business? That thing doesn't have much value. As long as he figures out Li You's sales channels, Xu Hong is confident that he can do it as a high school student. So Xu Hong came to the vicinity of the county town early today to wait for Li You. He didn't dare to follow from the village, which was easy to be noticed. When Xu Hong saw that Li You delivered the mushrooms to the state-owned hotel, he immediately felt that he had finally figured out the core secret of Li You's money-making. After being excited, after Li You left, Xu Hong immediately came to the state-owned hotel. When the staff in the hotel saw someone coming in, they immediately greeted, "Comrade, our business starts after eleven o'clock!" Xu Hong immediately said, "Hello, comrade, I'm not here to eat!" As soon as the words fell, the staff frowned and said, "If you don't come to eat, what are you doing in the state-owned hotel?" Like the staff of the supply and marketing cooperative, from the chef to the waiters in the state-owned hotel, they all belong to regular workers, the kind with an iron rice bowl. So, be sure not to compare the current hotel waiters with the waiters of later generations. They can scold you if they say so. You don't even look at the words "It is strictly prohibited to abuse and beat customers" written clearly on the wall of the supply and marketing cooperative! Xu Hong didn't care about the attitude of the state-owned hotel staff, but hurriedly said, "I want to ask if you accept mushrooms here?" That staff member took a look at Xu Hong and then said, "Yes, of course we accept!" "Well... how much is it per catty?" "Well, it depends on the quality. For those with a little higher quality, we can give six or seven cents, and for those with average quality, it's only three or four cents!" The staff member said faintly. Hearing that one catty of mushrooms can be sold for so much money, and thinking about how many of those things are all over the Nianzi Mountain behind the village, Xu Hong suddenly seemed to see a lot of small money waving at him. "Thank you, comrade, then I'll deliver a batch to you tomorrow!" Xu Hong said. "Okay!" Subsequently, Xu Hong left the state-owned hotel with excitement! However, what he didn't know was that just a few minutes after he left the hotel, Liu Jingshan came to the front desk and said to several staff members, "You few come here!" After everyone was gathered, Liu Jingshan loudly said, "Now I'm announcing something. Except for brother Li You, from now on, if anyone else comes to sell mountain goods, we won't accept them anymore!" "Why don't you accept them anymore, director?" Someone asked in surprise. Liu Jingshan immediately said, "The amount of mushrooms used in our hotel is not very large, and the supply to the city is not very much. In the past, brother Li You delivered only a hundred catties a day, so it's okay. Now he can deliver several hundred catties a day, which is enough for us to use. Why accept others?" Only then did everyone think that today that person delivered more than 800 catties of mountain goods, and there were more than 600 catties of mushrooms alone. Moreover, mushrooms can't be stored for a long time. If they can't be sold on the same day, they can only be dried into dried mushrooms. It's really not easy to handle if too many are accepted. Liu Jingshan didn't care what these people would think. After announcing the matter, he left. And Xu Hong doesn't know yet that his mushroom business died before it even started!

At noon, Xu Hong hid in the small woods far away from the sugar factory again, enduring the scorching sun and the bites of mosquitoes and insects, looking jealously at Li You making a lot of small money with tears in his eyes. On the way back, Xu Hong was extremely envious and resentful in his heart! He saw that a large cart of mountain goods was delivered to the state-owned restaurant today. There were at least several hundred catties. According to what the staff member of the restaurant said, it was sixty or seventy cents a catty. Today, just those mountain goods alone could make that good-for-nothing earn several hundred yuan. And Xu Hong knew that the money Li You gave to the children in the village was not much. Older children got four or five yuan a day, and for younger children, it was only one or two yuan. A profiteer, a definite profiteer! He didn't have to do anything himself. Just by delivering the mountain goods picked by the children to the county town once, he could earn several hundred yuan. There might be no easier money to earn in this world. And also for that cold noodle business, several hundred people came to buy every day. Even if only five cents was earned from each person, that would also be dozens of yuan! And with the nature of that good-for-nothing profiteer, it was unlikely that he would only earn five cents. Obviously, the cold noodle business was also very good. More importantly, selling mushrooms was a seasonal business, and the output was not guaranteed. Once the weather cooled, there would be no more mushrooms. But the cold noodle business was different. It could be done all year round. This was a Baoji that laid golden eggs! It was a pity that he, an authentic person from Shaanxi Province, didn't know how to make it. Was it annoying or not! So Xu Hong secretly decided that he would snatch Li You's mushroom business. He couldn't do the cold noodle business, so he would destroy it. Therefore, along the way, Xu Hong was thinking about how he could snatch Li You's business while also being able to trap him. After much thought, Xu Hong decided that no matter what, he would go to the county tomorrow and report Li You's speculation and profiteering. In this way, he could take the opportunity to snatch his mushroom business. Xu Hong estimated that even if speculation and profiteering were not sentenced, at least three to five months would be required to be imprisoned. Even if that good-for-nothing came out in the end at that time, it would be almost autumn, and by then the mushrooms would be almost gone, and he would have earned almost enough. Perfect! Thinking of this, the speed at which Xu Hong walked couldn't help but become much lighter!