Chapter 47

"Wait a moment, Mr. Tian."

Tian Liang took the packed wu rice and was about to leave, as he had some matters to attend to in the afternoon and didn't want to be delayed.

"A friend caught a wild pheasant; you can take it back and try it."

The pheasant, along with some vegetables picked by Li Dong. "These are vegetables I grew myself. I can't guarantee much, but they haven't been sprayed with pesticides or fertilizers, and they taste pretty good, though they're not anything special."

"I won't be polite then."

Tian Liang wasn't embarrassed, but he pulled Li Dong aside and quietly asked if the pheasant was farmed or truly wild.

Li Dong lowered his voice. "It's from the mountains, 100% wild. It's not something we can talk about openly."

"Alright, you have connections?"

"Hehe, a bit. I almost forgot, Mr. Tian, wait a moment."

Li Dong packed some dried mushrooms, black fungus, and dried fruits for Tian Liang. "These are from the mountains. I had an expert check them, and they're all genuine mountain goods."

"Good stuff."

Tian Liang wasn't in a hurry to leave. These mountain goods, while not necessarily better in taste, had a good reputation, especially among discerning people like Liu Kechang, who would appreciate the flavor.

"Brother, can you get more of these?"

"I can get a bit more."

Li Dong thought to himself, of course, if he couldn't, why would he have brought them out? He could easily get thirty to fifty pounds.

"Get some for me next time. I'll make sure the price is fair."

"Alright."

Li Dong agreed with a bit of hesitation. "I'll contact you when I get them."

"By the way, use better packaging next time."

Tian Liang nodded and smiled. "This packaging won't do for gifts."

"Don't worry, I'll use better packaging next time."

As he saw Tian Liang off, Li Dong thought he had finally found a market for the mountain goods, and now he could collect them with confidence.

Back in the courtyard, a few girls were discussing the wu rice. At 200 yuan per pound, they wondered what it was, but the good thing was that they could look it up online, and there were many introductions to wu rice.

There were various claims about its medicinal and nutritional value. Liu Qing'er and the others couldn't resist wanting to buy some, but the price was quite high.

"What are you all talking about so enthusiastically?"

"Brother-in-law, do you still have wu rice?"

"I have a bit left. I was planning to make some for you at lunch, but I forgot."

Li Dong really had forgotten. "Jiajia, take some back for your parents to try."

"Brother-in-law, can we buy some?"

Liu Qing'er asked softly.

"Sure, I'll give you the cost price."

Li Dong held up one finger. "100 yuan per pound."

"Brother-in-law, that's too kind of you."

"Since you're Jiajia's friends."

"Thank you, Brother-in-law."

Each of the girls bought a pound. It was quite expensive, and they weren't sure about the taste, but they were embarrassed to buy more since he was giving them the cost price, which was half the market price.

There wasn't much wu rice left, and it was quickly sold out. But Li Dong wasn't worried; he still had a few hundred pounds from 1978.

The girls went to the reservoir in the afternoon, took some photos, and the swans made an appearance.

They played until around three in the afternoon before preparing to leave.

"I'll take you in the horse cart."

Liu Qing'er and the others didn't refuse. The road to the intersection was quite far, and each of them was carrying four or five pounds of vegetables, a large piece of pumpkin and winter melon, plus the wu rice, mushrooms, and black fungus, which made for quite a few bags.

Li Dong didn't charge for the vegetables and pumpkins, but he did charge for the mushrooms and black fungus, as they were genuine mountain goods.

At the intersection, Jiajia stopped Li Dong and handed him a roll of money. "Why are you giving me money? Take it back."

"Brother-in-law, this is our team-building fund, 200 yuan each."

Gao Jia laughed. "Take it. The girls were just embarrassed to say that even a lunch wouldn't cost 200 yuan."

"I'm your brother-in-law, I wouldn't make money off you."

Fine, part of the team-building fund was from the company. Li Dong didn't argue. "Drive carefully, and send me a message when you arrive."

"Got it."

"By the way, Jingyi just reminded me not to forget her birthday gift, or she'll be upset."

"Got it, the gift is already prepared, and I'll make sure she's satisfied."

Li Dong said this with confidence, which made Gao Jia curious, but the bus arrived, and Liu Qing'er and the others waved. Gao Jia didn't have time to ask. "Brother-in-law, I'll go back now."

He saw them off and waved. "Come back and play again next time."

"Sure, Brother-in-law, remember to prepare something good for us next time."

"Don't worry, it will be even better next time."

After seeing the girls off, Li Dong drove the horse cart back to the farm. He had made a good amount of money that day, including the wu rice, mushrooms, and black fungus sold to the girls, and the money Tian Liang paid for the wu rice, totaling over 10,000 yuan.

Not bad, considering the cost was almost nothing. Apart from the 50 yuan to Han Weiguo, the rest cost less than 100 yuan. The wu rice, mushrooms, and black fungus were almost free. "I'll order a cabinet and shelves tomorrow."

Li Dong planned to set up a small supply and marketing cooperative, where he could display mushrooms, black fungus, and other goods from 1978. "Using goods from 1978, who can match my authenticity?"

It sounded quite interesting. Li Dong went to bed happily, but the next day, he was stunned when he ordered the goods. The large glass cabinet and shelves cost over 10,000 yuan, not including the installation fee.

He didn't have enough money. Adding the fish feed, land improvement, and the purchase of rapeseed, not to mention the repair of the field paths, which he had planned to pave with bluestone but had to abandon due to the cost.

He didn't have enough money. The money from selling alcohol and wu rice wasn't enough, and with the lease fees, Li Dong would be broke. "Selling alcohol?" Tian Liang wouldn't buy such expensive alcohol again anytime soon.

Liu Mingdong had met Tian Liang at the time, and Tian Liang was eager for his engineering payment. Now, it was impossible for him to buy alcohol costing 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per bottle. "Why did I even think of starting a farm?"

"First, set up the supply and marketing cooperative; it will be unique in the city."

The farm needed some unique features to attract guests and at least cover the lease fees. Li Dong didn't want to think about further investment, at least not until he was sure it wouldn't fail. He didn't want his ex-wife to look down on him. During the divorce, he had boasted about starting a successful business.

He couldn't let it fail halfway. He had to keep up the bravado, even if it meant kneeling to continue. At least he had to make it work.

"Alright, I'll do it. I don't believe I can't make it work, even if it takes a few more tries."

To make the farm successful, Li Dong planned to collect more mountain goods, find more old alcohol, and even some third series RMB, which could fetch a few thousand yuan. "Making big money is hard, but I can at least make some small money."

Li Dong was confident. The confident Li Dong began the first step of transforming the farm: building a 1970s supply and marketing cooperative. The design was simple; he just copied the 1978 mountain cooperative.

The goods would come from there, and the relationship with Gao Weimin and Gao Min would be useful. Li Dong thought he was indeed very smart for building these connections early.

Over the next few days, Li Dong worked on the farm. The cabinets and shelves arrived on the third day, along with the installation team, in two light trucks.

The commotion drew the attention of the entire village. "What's he up to now?"

"That must cost several ten thousand yuan."

"This kid, what do you think? Who will come to this place, and can he make money?"

"He's just wasting time. He should go back to teaching in the city."

"Teaching is a stable job, and the state will take care of his retirement."

The village elders had something to talk about during their tea breaks. With nothing much happening in the village, Li Dong's activities gave them something to discuss.

After a few days, the renovation was complete. Li Dong hired people to plow the fields. In this era, few people in the village farmed, and Li Dong, coming from the city, was preparing to farm.

He had no choice. With the leased land, he could apply for subsidies, and it would look better to plant something rather than let it grow wild. Planting rapeseed in the fall would look nice in the spring, and it might attract some flower enthusiasts.

One visitor is better than none. Besides, selling rapeseed oil would be another source of income. Even a small profit is better than nothing.

"Keep going."

"He'll run out of money soon."

Not just the village elders, but even the young people who came back from the city on weekends shook their heads. The farm might have made money a few years ago, but now there were dozens of farms around the city.

Without any unique features, it would be hard to avoid losing money. Who would go to such lengths to save money, trying to make a coin do the work of two?

Li Dong didn't know about the gossip. He was busy every day. By September 5th, he had received three groups of guests and made nearly 2,000 yuan from selling mountain goods.

Not bad. After tidying up the farm, he locked the door and put the wild boy in the cage. He had to go to the city the next day for his daughter's birthday. He packed the gift for Li Jingyi in a beautiful box.

Following Tian Liang's advice, Li Dong had ordered some high-end gift boxes, which cost nearly 8 yuan each, not cheap.

"Just a turtle seems a bit lacking."

Li Dong thought, what does his daughter like? "Right, stamp collecting, her new hobby."

"Stamps."

Li Dong thought about what rare stamps were available in 1978. He checked his phone. "Horse stamps, but they're hard to get." Rare items were scarce not only in the future but also at the time.

Antiques were like that. Things that were expensive in the future were not cheap in the past, and rare items were always rare. "How much is my sun worth now?"

"160?"

That's a lot. Li Dong hadn't checked in a while. A few days ago, it was only 130.

"Go back first?"

"I haven't bought anything good?"

Gao Weimin and his wife wanted mosquito nets and a set of red bedding to build a good relationship. He also needed a flashlight. Li Dong decided to take some food from the farm: cured meat, mutton, and a bucket of bean oil.

He added tofu and tomatoes to make up the weight. After packing everything, he started the car.