Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang also stood up, and the members gathered around them. They asked Lin Lan and the others if they had received their dry goods, and immediately gave them money.
"Don't worry, everyone, as long as we accept it, we will pay you immediately." Lin Lan looked at them and said.
"Don't worry, Dashan is here!" Everyone agreed and went back to sell dry goods for money.
Lin Lan, Wang Zhou, Shitou and others returned home and asked Wu Shufang to borrow a steel scale from the brigade to weigh the dry goods. Wu Shufang agreed and left in a hurry.
Zhou Shitou asked: "Cousin, if the folks ask me to help carry the goods, where can I buy them?" He just agreed because of Lin Lan's courage.
Lin Lan thought for a moment, the salt from the supply and marketing cooperative was 16 cents per catty, and she bought it on the black market for 2 cents:
"We sell needles, thread, and brains on the black market. The price of salt is four cents a pound higher than that of the supply and marketing cooperative. You can write down the things they need, and I will find someone to wholesale some for you, and they will come to your house to buy it.
You can also earn some traveling expenses.”
Zhou Dashan looked at Lin Lan: "If we sell salt, will they arrest me?"
Li Xiangyang said: "You can also count the things that everyone needs to buy, ask them to hand you the notebook and tickets, and you go to Shiqiao Town to buy it for them. Each family will be charged two cents for the toll."
After hearing this, Zhou Dashan smiled and said: "Yes, just help them buy it and it will be fine."
Xu Hongjue ran in happily: "Cousin, someone sent mushrooms and pumpkins."
"I'll get some baskets to put them in." Zhou Dashan said and walked towards the woodshed.
Lin Lan smiled and said to Li Xiangyang: "Master Li, I would like to trouble you to hold the scale!"
Li Xiangyang smiled and said: "No problem, I'll take care of it."
Zhou Xiangui and several children at home came to Zhou Dashan's house carrying old pumpkins, dried mushrooms, and dried Sichuan peppercorns. Wu Shufang followed a few people back carrying a steel scale.
Zhou Dashan happily stepped forward and took the bamboo basket carried by Zhou Xiangui: "Uncle, please sit in the room and warm yourself by the fire."
Lin Guoliang pulled the stool farther away: "Grandpa Zhou, please sit down."
Zhou Xiangui looked at the group of people happily and said, "Thank you very much. Thank you for coming all the way to collect mountain goods. We mountain people are afraid of being deceived. When we get to know each other in the future, we won't ask questions."
Lin Guoliang smiled and lit the cigarette for Zhou Xiangui: "Please help us convene a meeting."
Zhou Xiangui, Lin Guoliang and others set up a dragon gate array in the main room. When they learned from Lin Guoliang that the fields had been distributed to households outside, they said, "It's so fast! I didn't hear the news last time I went to the commune."
Lin Guoliang said: "It's just after New Year's Day."
"When your sister is finished, I will come to her to ask for details." Zhou Xiangui said while looking at Lin Lan who was busy outside.
In the courtyard, Li Xiangyang was busy weighing pumpkins with the steel scale borrowed from Wu Shufang.
Xu Hongjue and Wu Shufang taught Lin Lan to identify the types of dried mushrooms and what kind of dried mushrooms are good mushrooms.
Wu Shufang told Lin Lan that choosing dried mushrooms is more troublesome than choosing fresh mushrooms. Those who don't know them don't know which ones are young and which ones are overripe.
She picked up the dried mushrooms brought by Zhou Xiangui's family and said that the dried mushrooms from Zhou Xiangui's family were good. She told her that good dried mushrooms have thick, neat caps and smooth caps.
The size is uniform; the gills are neat and dense, with the edges rolled in and thick; the stem of the fungus is short and thick, and is as hard as a dry stick when held in the hand. The dried fungus is free from mildew, debris and scorch.
Dried mushrooms have better caps with thicker ones, and thicker ones have a stronger aroma; if the edges of the caps are rolled inward, they are from young mushrooms, and if they are straight, they are from old mushrooms.
Dried mushrooms are yellow-brown or dark-brown, and the ones with bright colors are better...
Lin Lan didn't expect that there were so many ways to use dried mushrooms, so she took note of them carefully.
After Wu Shufang taught her how to identify dried mushrooms, she also taught her how to look at dried Sichuan peppercorns. The dried Sichuan peppercorns in the mountains had a strong fragrance. After smelling them for a while, Lin Lan felt her tongue was numb.
Before Zhou Xiangui's family had finished weighing, several more families came, two of which were relatively close to Zhou Dashan's family.
Lin Guoliang and Zhou Shitou also ran out to help select old pumpkins and dried mushrooms.
Zhou Xiangui also went home and brought his steelyard to help weigh it.
Lin Lan found that most of the old pumpkins brought by the members were carefully selected. Lin Lan had cut so many pumpkins that the darker the color of the skin and the darker the stripes, the more mature the pumpkins.
The members who came to sell dry goods saw the scale, and Lin Lan got the money immediately, and her worries were relieved.
After their publicity, everyone came with their home supplies, and the courtyard of Zhou Dashan's house was as lively as going to the market.
Aunt Zhou brought her daughter-in-law, and Zhou Qiaoyan carried pumpkins on her back, dried mushrooms, and peppercorns. They smiled coquettishly at Wu Shufang and said, "Sister-in-law, my pumpkins are sweet and floury, and they are very delicious."
"As long as it's good, we'll accept it." Wu Shufang glanced at her lightly, checked the old pumpkin in her backpack, and asked Li Xiangyang and Lin Guoliang to weigh it.
Over there, Xu Hongjue picked out the moldy and withered dried mushrooms from the dried mushrooms carried by Zhou Qiaoyan and put them aside.
Xu Hongjue looked up and saw Zhou Qiaoyan, blushing and peeking at Li Xiangyang who was busy weighing, and glared at her: "Qiaoyan, my cousin doesn't want this, you can take it back later."
Zhou Qiaoyan blushed and nodded, putting the dried mushrooms that Xu Hongjue picked out back into the sack.
After seeing her on Wednesday, Aunt Zhou was dissatisfied and said to Lin Lan: "Sister, look what's wrong with the fungi in my house. I picked out all the red tangerines."
Lin Lan glanced at her lightly and pointed to the dried mushrooms in the basket: "Madam, as long as you pick one out of the basket, I will accept them all."
The member at the back said: "We have all seen that the red oranges picked out are not dried yet. Hurry up and don't delay our sales."
Aunt Zhou was stubborn: "If we had known you were so picky, we wouldn't have sold it."
Lin Lan didn't bother to pay attention to her, and was busy checking the useful information below.
After a busy morning, Lin Lan settled the accounts and found that old pumpkins, dried Sichuan peppercorns and dried mushrooms had gained the most.
Each household had twenty or thirty kilograms of dried mushrooms. Almost all the dozens of families from the Shishanling brigade came to collect hundreds of kilograms of black fungus and dried peppercorns, as well as grass bandits and grass fruits.
Fortunately, dried mushrooms and dried Sichuan peppercorns are not valuable these days. Fortunately, Li Xiangyang also brought some money, otherwise he would not have the money to pay them.
After finishing their work, Xu Hongjue told Wu Shufang about Zhou Qiaoyan peeking at Li Xiangyang: "Mom, I see Qiaoyan's face is red."
Wu Shufang curled her lips: "Since the third child left, the family has become more and more out of character. Taking advantage of her Qiaoyan's good looks, she picks and chooses here and there. This girl is also very ambitious, and something will happen sooner or later."
Xu Hongjue nodded: "I think Qiaoyan is restless. Fortunately, my cousin and the others will leave tomorrow."
Wu Shufang snorted coldly: "What if I don't leave? Zhou Qiaoyan still wants to compete with Xiaolan!"
Xu Hongjue glanced at Lin Lan who was talking to Li Xiangyang and said with a smile: "That's right!"