Chapter 91

"Xiaojuan, do well on the exam."

Li Dong took leave partly to go to the city to check the situation and inquire about the prices of herbs like yellow essence, and partly to send Xiaojuan to participate in the city-wide joint exam.

"After the exam, Dad will take you to the state-owned hotel to eat big meat buns."

"Okay."

Thinking of the big meat buns, Xiaojuan, who was always mindful of her small wallet, finally succumbed to the tempting aroma. "Dad, I'll just taste half a bun."

"That won't do; if you eat, you should eat until you're full."

Li Dong smiled and patted Xiaojuan's little head, encouraging her to do well on the exam. He then turned to chat with Teacher Wang Jing.

"Teacher Wang, thank you for your hard work these past few days. Xiaojuan's grades wouldn't have improved so quickly without you."

"You're too kind. It's my duty as a teacher, and besides, Xiaojuan is really smart and works hard." This time, Wang Jing brought three students to participate in the county-wide joint exam, the most from the lower grades. Only two students from the second grade and one from the third grade participated.

The joint exam not only takes up a lot of time but also has a significant gap in teaching quality between the mountain commune and the county town, making it very difficult to achieve a good ranking. Many people are reluctant to participate.

Li Dong watched Xiaojuan enter the exam room and said goodbye to Teacher Wang Jing. He then rode his bicycle to the department store to buy a few bottles of Gujing Gongjiu, and if possible, some Maotai and Wuliangye.

At the department store, there were quite a few shoppers. Li Dong glanced around and thought his luck was good. "There's actually Maotai?"

"Comrade, give me two bottles of Maotai."

He didn't expect such good luck. The salesperson looked at Li Dong. "Do you have a liquor ticket?"

"Yes."

Huang Xiaotian had given him some grain tickets and liquor tickets, which others had given him as gifts.

"How many bottles of Maotai can I buy?"

"Two bottles."

"What about Wuliangye, can I buy it?"

"That depends on whether you have a liquor ticket."

Li Dong had them all, so he bought two bottles of Maotai, two bottles of Wuliangye, and four bottles of Gujing. He thought his luck was good, so he asked the salesperson to tie them up with a rope and wrap them in kraft paper, hanging them on his bicycle handlebars as he left the department store.

"The stockings seem to be selling well."

In just a short while, Li Dong saw four or five young girls buying stockings. The love for beauty exists in any era.

"The wool seems to be selling well too."

He thought about checking if sweaters were in fashion and bringing a few back, along with shoe insoles. These small items were selling well, and he wondered if he should bring more and do some wholesale. The young man from the region last time was quite helpful.

Liu Xiaohua from Huacheng might have to come out of retirement. Li Dong rode his bicycle around the city. Even in the future, Chicheng is not a big city, a fourth- or fifth-tier small town. Now it's even smaller, and it only took him ten minutes to ride around.

Though the streets are not large, they are quite lively. The recent crackdown on speculation had made the whole city tense, but now it's much better. Li Dong could vaguely see vegetable stalls at the alley entrances, or young people selling peanuts, sunflower seeds, or pork and other agricultural by-products.

Li Dong checked the time; the exam was far from over.

"Let's go to the fish market in the north."

The fish market had a much stronger smell than in the future, and the fishy odor almost made Li Dong faint.

"How much is this fish per pound?"

A grass carp, about five or six pounds, looked mostly wild.

"Thirty cents."

Thirty cents is not cheap, Li Dong nodded and moved to the next stall. There were quite a few fishermen openly setting up stalls, which surprised Li Dong. The prices were not cheap but were cheaper than the black market.

Li Dong didn't know that this was a collectively built fish market, similar to a farmers' market.

"How much for the soft-shelled turtle?"

"Forty cents."

Soft-shelled turtles are not cheap, Li Dong muttered. The price of eels was also not cheap, thirty-five cents, and small miscellaneous fish were the cheapest, with dead small fish like carp costing ten cents for a small pile.

"Hey?"

Li Dong's eyes lit up as he pushed his bicycle a few steps to a fish stall.

"How much for this fish?"

"Seventy-five cents per pound."

"Seventy-five cents?"

Li Dong was delighted. Not expensive, not expensive at all.

"I'll take them all."

"You want them all?"

The fish seller was very surprised. That's two or three pounds, and at seventy-five cents per pound, it would cost over two yuan.

"I'll take them all."

Li Dong smiled. "Are these freshly caught?"

"Caught early this morning."

"Are there many?"

"Not too many, they're not easy to catch."

After weighing and packaging, the fish seller even helped Li Dong clean the fish. It cost a total of 2.15 yuan.

"Knife fish are not easy to catch."

Indeed, Li Dong bought three pounds of Yangtze knife fish for over two yuan. This is a good thing. After picking up Xiaojuan, they would go home and eat knife fish, which is extremely delicious and hard to find in the future, regardless of whether you have money or not.

He was so happy that he almost forgot about the herbs. Halfway through, he remembered he was there to investigate.

At the acquisition station, Li Dong looked around. An elderly acquisition officer saw Li Dong approaching. "What do you want to buy or sell?"

"Do you sell things here?"

"Of course, how can we only buy and not sell?"

For example, if they buy eggs, they sell chicks. If they buy things, they must sell things to make money.

"Sir."

"Comrade."

"Right, comrade, do you buy yellow essence?"

Li Dong took out a few pieces of yellow essence wrapped in paper and handed them to the elderly comrade.

"Not bad, processed by an old hand. I'll give you eighty cents per pound."

Eighty cents. Li Dong calculated that his purchase price was twenty-five cents, and after nine steams and nine boils, the cost was about forty-five cents, plus labor costs, making it almost fifty cents per pound. Selling for eighty cents, he would make thirty cents per pound, which is not much but not bad.

"Do you buy polygonum?"

"Half-dry, forty-five cents."

The elderly man glanced at it. Forty-five cents. Li Dong's purchase price was twenty cents, sometimes fifteen cents, plus labor costs, making it about twenty-three cents. Drying it would add about ten cents, so he would make twelve cents, which is not much.

If Han Guofu and others knew this, they would definitely hit Li Dong with their tobacco pipes.

In ten days, he made over twenty yuan from yellow essence and about ten yuan from polygonum, totaling over thirty yuan, which is what a city worker earns in a month.

"Can you help me check this?"

Mushroom heads. Li Dong's purchase price was not cheap, about thirty-three cents for fresh ones, plus labor costs of about forty cents, and drying them to half-dry would cost about one yuan per pound.

"Mushroom heads, the price is hard to set."

The elderly man looked carefully. "The acquisition station's price is a bit lower than yellow essence."

Lower than yellow essence, so less than eighty cents. Li Dong thought he would lose money and decided to bring them back to 2018. He could leave some yellow essence and polygonum to sell to the acquisition station. After thanking the elderly man, Li Dong rode his bicycle to the county primary school.

The exam was not over yet, so Li Dong went to the nearby state-owned canteen to buy some meat buns and meat dumplings in a lunch box.

At the school gate, he saw a vendor selling soda. Li Dong spent eighteen cents on the soda and twenty cents as a deposit for the bottles, buying two bottles of orange soda.

"Teacher Wang, have some soda."

"Xiaojuan's dad, no, I just drank some cold water." Wang Jing waved her hand, embarrassed.

"Teacher Wang, don't be so formal. You've spent so much time on Xiaojuan; a bottle of soda is nothing." Li Dong insisted, showing Wang Jing the opened soda. "Besides, it would be a waste to throw it away."

"Thank you."

After drinking the soda, Li Dong returned the bottles to the vendor to get back the twenty-cent deposit. By the time he returned, the exam was over.

"Xiaojuan."

"Dad, Teacher Wang."

"How did it go?"

"I can do all the questions."

Xiaojuan was a bit proud, and Wang Jing smiled. "Xiaojuan, don't be arrogant."

"Okay."

"Are you hungry? Have something to tide you over. Dad will cook something nice when we get home."

He opened the lunch box, and the fragrant meat buns and meat dumplings were inviting. Li Dong invited Wang Jing to try, but she refused.

Father and daughter ate until they were half full. Li Dong pedaled hard to get back to Hanzhuang, accelerating on the way.

Knife fish cannot be left for too long, or they will spoil. When they got home, Li Dong started cleaning and preparing to fry the knife fish. He couldn't bring them back, so they decided to eat them. The taste was really fresh, and it went perfectly with the Maotai he had brought.

Of course, knife fish are valuable because they are rare. Although the number has decreased and they are harder to catch, compared to the future, they are still more abundant. A fishing dock can still catch three to five pounds of knife fish a day.

Li Dong thought about finding a chance to bring some knife fish back and freeze them, which would keep them for three to five days. Although not as fresh, it would be enough to surprise people at the mountain village resort.

He thought Tian Zong and Liu Kechang would be interested, but Xiaojuan wasn't, as knife fish have many bones. Li Dong ate over a pound and drank half a bottle of Maotai, leaving a little to bring back to 2018.

Cooked knife fish can be stored for a longer time. Li Dong started packing things to go back that night.

"I need to find a chance to buy a house in the city."

This way, he could stay overnight in the city and have a better explanation, as going out at night every time would eventually attract attention.

"Xiaojuan, go to bed early."

Li Dong packed all the mushroom heads. The purchase price was high, and selling them to the acquisition station would be a loss. Bringing them back to 2018 would be different, as they could sell for three to four hundred yuan per pound.

The big one, at least ten thousand yuan. Li Dong packed the yellow essence, mushrooms, black fungus, a few wild chickens, wild rabbits, soft-shelled turtles, and the most important tiger penis wine, along with the eight bottles of good liquor he had just bought.

Over 250 pounds. When it got dark, Li Dong left the courtyard and went to the small forest, activating the device.

"Activate."

Returning to 2018, he had a lot to bring back. He needed to replenish rice, flour, meat, eggs, and oil. He might also need red flower oil, pain-relieving plasters, and even sunscreen for the construction work.

Li Dong calculated that he had a lot to bring. This time, he stayed in 1978 for a longer period, using ninety sun points and still having over 250 hours of sun points left.