This man's name is Wu Benzhong, and he has been here for two years. Last year, Ma County just started land contracting and he came here right after the market opened. He came here because his hometown said it was easy to make money here. I originally wanted to do some small business and came here with some capital. Unfortunately, I didn’t know much about the market here. Some of the goods I bought from Wucheng were not sold here, so I lost everything. I lost my capital and had no shame to go home. , went to spend the winter with relatives in the Corps. Life in the corps company is not easy now. Although Baogu noodles can be eaten, it is really difficult to make money. So he came to the mountains as soon as spring began. This was because someone pointed him out, saying that there were good things in the mountains, and as long as he got them, he could exchange them for money at the buying station. If you can pick up the treasure, you will make a fortune.
Wu Benzhong didn’t really believe it at first. There were mountains near his hometown and he knew a lot about the mountains, but he wasn’t very proficient in finding products from the mountains. Before he came, he specifically went to the buying station to ask. The people at the buying station also told him clearly that there were a lot of mountain goods collected, including leather, Codonopsis pilosula, Fritillaria, antlers and the like, and the prices were not low.
Wu Benzhong went into the mountains after hearing about it. He only knew Fritillaria and Codonopsis Codonopsis from others in the mountains. Now is not the time to dig for Codonopsis pilosula, so Wu Benzhong only stares at Fritillaria. Then I encountered other miscellaneous things.
But it’s not easy to get around in the mountains. When he entered the mountains in late March, there was still snow in some places. After entering the mountains, he couldn’t see the caladiums at first, so he wanted to pick up some other things. Once in the mountains, it’s a little difficult to get out. There wasn't much to eat in the mountains, so when the grass started to grow, I dug up grass roots, picked dried mushrooms, and added some corn noodles I brought with me.
He didn't think about going out, because there was nothing he could do about it. He had no money in his pocket and didn't pick up any good things. The most he could do when he went out was to beg for food.
Wu Benzhong wanted to show his face, otherwise he would not have come out of the home of his relatives in the Corps. You can survive there just by staying there. He came out because he wanted face and didn't want to make a living, so he wanted face and didn't want to go down to the county to beg for food. He hoped to make money based on his ability and instinct.
Then he picked up a pair of antlers in the ditch, which made him very happy. He clearly remembered that everyone at the buying station said that the purchase price of antlers was more than six yuan per kilogram. This pair of antlers weighs five to six kilograms, which is equivalent to a worker's salary for a month.
Originally he planned to take the antlers down the mountain to sell them for money and buy some daily necessities. However, what made him angry was that before he left the mountain, he met someone from the forestry team, and then he took his antlers with him. The antlers were collected. The man also told him to get out of the mountain as soon as possible, otherwise he would be arrested the next time he saw him picking up things and digging herbs in the mountain.
The opponent had guns and horses, and Wu Benzhong could not resist, so he could only admit that he was unlucky.
He was unwilling to lose the antlers, but there was nothing he could do about it. Fortunately, it was not until early April that caladiums appeared, and he started digging for caladiums. Now he has almost finished the corn noodles he brought with him. He eats wild vegetables every day and his poop is always green. He misses the taste of rice, white flour and meat.
It was quite unexpected to meet Sun Jiaqiang, but when he saw that he was dressed similarly to himself, Wu Benzhong was not so scared, but he was still a little wary. These days, except for my own family, who can believe it?
Sun Jiaqiang was actually quite happy to see Wu Benzhong. Although he had encountered bad blind people before, he always maintained some kindness in his heart, so he told Li Long about the supplies he could exchange for. Wu Benzhong.
Wu Benzhong didn't believe it yesterday, but today he saw the shoes Sun Jiaqiang had exchanged for, and he was a little shaken.
Leaving from the ditch, he swerved out of the ditch, crossed two more ditches, turned west, and climbed two mountains. Wu Benzhong came to a small ravine. This ravine is very narrow, with pine trees growing on both sides. No cattle or sheep have passed here. The grass grows very deep and is very messy. Because of the pine trees, there is no sunlight on both sides of the ravine, and the ground is covered with thick moss. .
After Wu Benzhong entered the ditch, he walked forty or fifty meters in. On the edge of a wind-downed pine tree on the hillside, he lifted up a large piece of moss to reveal a cave entrance.
This is the shelter he finally found. The hole looks small from the outside, but it's actually quite big inside. It's blocked by branches and moss, so it's not easy to find. Although it's a bit damp inside, it's better than staying outside.
Wu Benzhong got in, and there was a cave inside. There are ventilation holes, so it doesn't look stuffy. He stored a lot of dry firewood inside, built a stove with four stones, and placed an aluminum basin on it to serve as a pot, and an enamel basin with several pieces of porcelain missing for eating. bowl.
The left side of the hole is covered with hay, with urea bags and sacks on it, and a quilt with several holes in it. This is where Wu Benzhong sleeps.
There are several bags placed in the right corner of the cave. There are also messy things beside the bags, including two sets of antlers, a pair of roe deer antlers, an ibex head, and seventeen or eight horn segments. That, and a few rocks.
Wu Benzhong looked at these things. What he was sure of was that the antlers and fritillaries in the bag could be exchanged for money, but the rest was unclear.
I grabbed a handful into the bag. The caladiums were still very wet and a little damp. The total weight of these bags must be twenty or thirty kilograms.
Wu Benzhong was also worried. I have dug a lot of caladiums myself, but the ditch I live in is very safe, and the forestry team can’t find it. But there is no place to dry things here. The places above where there is sunlight are all pine forests, and below there are pine trees. The humidity is so high that there is no place to bask in the sun. I want to find a suitable place to dry it, but I am afraid that it will be stolen by others. I have to dig it out every day, so I can't keep looking at it.
He remembered Liu Jiaqiang’s words, gritted his teeth, picked up the smallest bag of caladium and walked out of the cave.
In the worst case, just lose some. I have completely run out of food here. Unless you go down the mountain, but the people at the purchasing station said they only collect dried fritillaries, so they are not responsible for drying them. Now that I have to go down the mountain, I have to walk for at least a day. But tonight’s meal is gone. What's more, there were no matches. He had chewed dried mushrooms at noon. He had nothing to eat tonight, and he was doubtful whether he would have the strength to go down the mountain tomorrow.
Then give it a try and change something.
When Wu Benzhong appeared on the east side of the wooden house, Li Long was collecting the dried meat from the rope. Although it is early April, the terrain here is flat, there is enough light, and there is wind, so the meat is almost drying. He planned to put away the meat today and not dry it tomorrow. Tomorrow he would go to the place Sun Jiaqiang mentioned to see if there were any deer.
Li Long was shocked when he saw Wu Benzhong. If it hadn't been for broad daylight, he would have thought he was a ghost!
At least he has seen Sun Jiaqiang, cousin Li Zheng and the bad thief. Li Long has seen all kinds of blind people in the mountains, but this is the first time he has seen someone like Wu Benzhong.
The others are slovenly at best, but this one is just like a skeleton. Even Li Long is doubtful whether he has 40 kilograms or not.
Although he was skinny and skinny, he looked quite strong. He was just panting heavily while carrying a bag of things.
Wu Benzhong looked much poorer than the Sun family in appearance. His clothes had many holes and were shiny, his hair was messy, his beard was not long, but his face was extremely thin due to lack of nutrition. Li Long thought that if he trimmed his hair and beard and gained weight, he could be called a handsome guy.
"Boss, I heard that you can exchange things here?" Wu Benzhong stood more than ten meters away, with the bag at his feet. He planned that if something went wrong, the worst possible thing would be to drop the bag and run away. As long as you don't catch it, the possibilities are endless.
But seeing that the other party actually had a tractor, Wu Benzhong believed Sun Jiaqiang's words a little more. This person shouldn't be from the forestry team, right? Without horses, you can't drive a tractor to catch people?
"Exchange it. What did you exchange it for?" Li Long asked, "Replace it for what? I have rice noodles, wine, drinks, sugar, shoes and matches here."
"How did you exchange it? How much did you pay for one kilogram of Fritillaria?”
"Fresh Fritillaria costs three yuan per kilogram," Li Long said. "In the mountains, the price can only be this price. Of course, it also depends on the quality. If the quality is good, the price can be raised. If the quality is poor and there are many impurities, the price must be reduced."< br>
It’s cheaper than the one at the purchase station. Wu Benzhong understands this. After all, they also make money.
"Then take a look at my goods." Wu Benzhong said, "I should have a lot of Fritillaria bags. I want to exchange some of them."
Li Long estimated the bag of Fritillaries. The mother energy weighed nearly ten kilograms. He went into the house to get the scale. When he came out, he saw Wu Benzhong staring at the dried meat on the case and swallowing his saliva. Then he smiled and said:
"Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?"
"No, no." Wu Benzhong was still very wary, waving his hands and saying, "Weigh first, change things first."
Li Long hung the bag on a scale hook and weighed it.
"Nine kilograms and eight." The scale was quite high. Wu Benzhong nodded, it was about the same.
Putting down the scale, Li Long opened the bag and looked at the contents, and then frowned. He smelled a musty smell.
“Didn’t your Fritillaria dry in the sun? It smells a bit strong.”
Li Long took the bag and dumped it on the wooden floor in front of the wooden house. The caladiums rolled on the floor, and then he saw that the tops were still fine, but some of the caladiums below were rotten.
Wu Benzhong's face suddenly turned red and he was very embarrassed.
“It’s not easy to get sunlight there.”
“Let’s pick a few, the rotten ones will definitely be useless.” Li Long squatted down, and Wu Benzhong immediately squatted down as well. Start picking.
Not much was rotten, just over a kilogram, and more than half a kilogram was moldy. The remaining seven kilograms or so were good.
"It's a pity that it's rotten. It's probably very difficult to use if it's moldy." Li Long said, "I don't know if it can be used even if it's washed and dried. In the future, if there are Fritillaria, you should dig them up and dispose of them as soon as possible, otherwise they will always be like this. , What a pity.”
Wu Benzhong also knows this truth, but there is nothing he can do in his place.
He suddenly thought of something, raised his head and asked Li Long:
"Boss, can you exchange money here?" "You mean, sell me the Fritillaria?"
"Yes, yes, you can exchange money directly. The money is easy to pretend." Wu Benzhong immediately came up with this idea after confirming that Li Long was not a "bad guy". Instead of putting the caladium in the hole and worrying about it getting damaged, why not sell it directly to this person!
"Okay, but my price is not high, just three yuan. I can tell that your Fritillaria has been washed. If it is dried, you can actually sell it for more money down the mountain. . ”
“We have to be able to take it with us.” Wu Benzhong was extremely sober at this moment, “Let’s talk about whether it can be dried in the sun. , maybe you will meet the forestry team after drying...Forget it, it would be nice to sell them to you."
"Okay, do you want to sell these or exchange them?"
"Exchange something." Wu Benzhong looked at the meat on the case and swallowed again, "Can the meat be exchanged?"
"Yes. I still have braised cooked meat in the house. Would you like to change it?"
"Change!"
With seven kilograms of Fritillaria, Wu Benzhong changed into a pair of shoes and put his own The rotten shoes on my feet were thrown away and replaced with a few kilograms of air-dried meat and half a kilogram of braised offal. Rice, noodles, sugar, the most important matches, and a pack of salt. The rest was a big unity card from Li Long.
The supplies are not very large, but Wu Benzhong has decided to take out all the fritillaries in his cave and replace them tomorrow!
It is best to come here early to avoid encountering the forestry team and having it confiscated again. What a pity!
He already knew from Li Long that the other party not only collects fritillaries, but also antlers and other valuable things!
Isn’t this equivalent to a collection point in the mountains?
With this in mind, I walked back while eating braised offal.
Li Long cleaned away the broken Fritillaria, washed the moldy ones by the water, and spread them on the case.
After washing the remaining seven kilograms of fritillaries with water, he spread them on the floor of the small room to dry.
The sun has already set, so it's not easy to leave it outside. Firstly, there will still be dew at night, and secondly, it would be a pity if a wild beast or something comes and destroys it.
After finishing this, he had a simple dinner, closed the door and went to sleep.
Before dawn the next day, Li Long was woken up by a knock on the door. He raised his gun and asked:
"Who?"
"I, yesterday If you want to buy Fritillaria, I will sell Fritillaria.”
Li Long didn't expect Wu Benzhong to come so early. He opened the door with a gun and was shocked when he saw two bags of Fritillaria at Wu Benzhong's feet:
"It's all in here? Are you so good at digging?" Ah!”
“Hey, there are still a few ditches. They are all caladiums, and they only weigh one kilogram if you don't move your feet." Wu Benzhong was in a good mood and started talking more. "I didn't expect that there were so many resources here."
Li Long had known a few of them before. Beimugou, but he has never seen it, but Li Jianguo has.
“Is there any bad mold inside?”
Li Long put down his gun and went to get the scale.
"I picked them all last night, and I threw away all the bad and moldy ones." Wu Benzhong promised, "Don't worry."
He was actually quite distressed. More than two kilograms were damaged inside, which is equivalent to working in vain for most of the day.
"Okay, let me weigh it first." Li Long hooked the bag and weighed it together.
The fifteen kilogram scale didn’t even hit the scale, so the two bags were weighed separately.
A bag of twelve kilograms, a bag of eleven kilograms, and a bag of twenty-three kilograms.
Li Long couldn't just listen to him. Although there was still a little dew on the wooden floor outside, he was not afraid of it. It dried up as soon as the sun came out. He poured the two bags of caladium on the floor. .
Wu Benzhong stared at the gun Li Long had just placed at the door of the house, actually feeling a little scared.
If Li Long pointed a gun at him and took away the Fritillaria, there would be nothing he could do!
Why are you so rash and coming here with a mother-of-pearl in your hand? And it’s all his net worth!
Although this person performed very well yesterday, there are so many caladiums here now, which cost nearly a hundred yuan. In the mountains these days, for so many things, shooting is not a big deal, right?
It turned out that there were people in the village who were beaten to death over a pot!
I was so excited yesterday. How could I trust people so easily?
"Not bad, nothing bad really." Li Long looked at the fritillaries and was quite satisfied. This man had really picked them up.
He didn’t know that Wu Benzhong was already thinking about the battle between heaven and man. He straightened up and asked:
"Does it all cost money, or do you need part of the supplies and part of the money? If you need money, it's sixty-nine yuan. I'll give you seventy yuan, including the hard work you put into picking the Fritillaria yesterday. After all, you, the Fritillary, tell the truth, there's nothing dirty. It's pretty good."
"Then...it all costs money." After hearing what Li Long meant, Wu Benzhong's brain began to function normally. The other party didn't want to rob him?
Are you doing serious business?
Should you stabilize yourself first and wait until you relax before making a sneak attack?
Look at how tall Li Long is, and look at himself like a monkey. If the opponent really wants to rob me, he shouldn’t have to go to such trouble, right?
While Wu Benzhong was thinking wildly, Li Long had already entered the room to take out the money, counted out seven big unity sheets and handed them over:
"Here, take them. Seventy, count."
Wu Benzhong watched Li Long count them one by one, but when he took the money, he couldn't help but count it again. Yes, it was seventy.
This is the most he has earned this year!
Half a month’s time!
You can still make money in the mountains!
Now Wu Benzhong was already ashamed of his random thoughts. He couldn't help but ask Li Long:
"Boss, do you want to take the antlers?"
" Yes, but the price is not as high as at the purchase station.”
“Of course, I have deer antlers and roe deer antlers. If you give me three yuan per kilogram, I can sell them to you!”
On the one hand, it is because of shame, and on the other hand, the target of that thing is too big. Now I have money on me. If I am discovered by the forestry team with the antlers, I will be arrested. Secondly, if the money is found, then the money I have earned will be in vain. ?
As for whether it is possible to go out at night? Forget it, if you go out on your own at night, are you giving the wolf extra food?
Unless someone like Li Long has a gun in his hand, otherwise, he is just delivering food.
After confirming the matter, Wu Benzhong left in a daze. After walking more than a kilometer, he suddenly jumped up. At this rate, when the caladiums are out of season in late May, he is sure to get hundreds of dollars!
You will have enough money to go home by then!
Hundreds of dollars! In my original village, there were several people with hundreds of dollars! With these few hundred dollars, you can repair your home, buy some things, and live a good life!
Li Long was also very happy because he met a big customer.
It seems that there are capable people in the blind stream.
He set up the stove to boil water and make porridge, while he spread the fritillaries that Wu Benzhong brought over to dry outside. It seemed that he couldn't go out today.
However, this idea only arose within an hour before it was shattered.
Bolati ran over on horseback and delivered good news to Li Long. Then Li Long took some things and put them in the tractor, cleaned up the place, and drove the tractor to follow him to the east mountains. (End of this chapter)