The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 169 The Business Way of the Hustler_1
A small square table was set up in the shady part of the courtyard.
Li Qing sipped tea and discussed his upcoming plans with Han Mei and Tian Yue’e.
It was not only necessary to keep Shi Liang, the individual dealer, but also to maintain a good relationship with him.
Although the scale of business from Lü Zong was larger and more stable, it was not Li Qing’s own after all.
But Li Qing was too busy to handle everything, so Han Mei and Tian Yue’e would have to bear the extra burden.
Furthermore, before things settled down with Lü Zong, they’d probably have to delegate the task of collecting the harvest.
But this issue had Li Qing entangled for a while, finding it difficult to arrange.
The few villages in Shanglin Village were Li Qing’s main purchasing areas, and the amount of money involved was substantial.
He would be at ease with Tian Yue’e taking charge of it.
However, the mountain roads were rugged and difficult to travel, often requiring the pushing of a cart to fill in the road, which could be quite laborious.
Li Qing pondered for a while and then decided to hold off on this matter for the time being.
He would try it out first; if he really couldn’t cope, then he would make arrangements.
"Qingzi, it’s not as comfortable doing work for others as it is for yourself, you’ll definitely have to put in extra care. Let me and Yue’er handle Shi Liang’s matters and the purchasing around here; you don’t need to worry about it," Han Mei said.
Li Qing nodded, replying gently, "It’s just that it would be tough on you both."
"How else are we supposed to make money if it isn’t tough? If you feel bad for your wife, just hurry up and make more money," Tian Yue’e said with a laugh.
Instantly, Han Mei’s face turned bright red with embarrassment, "Go away, who’s his wife."
"I, I, I can admit it openly and boldly," Tian Yue’e laughed heartily.
Han Mei glared at Tian Yue’e, then looked at Li Qing with tender affection before quickly turning her head away.
"You all are my wives," Li Qing said with a smile.
This time, Han Mei did not object and shyly bit into a piece of watermelon.
Seeing that the moment was right, Li Qing immediately steered the conversation back to business, "And there’s the Wenguan Forest on our property. If we really can’t handle it, I’m thinking of hiring people to pick the leaves because it won’t be long before fresh leaves are ready again."
"Why spend that money? We’ve pretty much got our work down these past few days and have plenty of time to pick," Han Mei said. "You just stop worrying about these things, the two of us together with Yang Xuelan are more than enough to pick the leaves."
As Han Mei insisted, Li Qing had no choice but to agree.
He didn’t want Han Mei and Tian Yue’e to overexert themselves.
But clearly, Han Mei was reluctant to spend the money.
The night passed without incident.
Li Qing woke up early the next day and, along with Gao Li, headed for Shanglin Village.
He spent the entire morning rushing about like in a battle, moving from one village to the next as soon as he finished collecting their harvest.
Even Gao Li mentioned that despite working so many days, this was the first time he felt such a sense of urgency.
To this, Li Qing could only laugh.
It was a necessary decision – he needed to free up enough time in the afternoon for dealing with Lü Zong’s matters.
By a little past nine in the morning, Li Qing and Gao Li had returned to the village.
After handing over the Wenguan Large Leaves they had purchased to Han Mei for processing, he and Gao Li hurried non-stop to the town.
On the way back, he had arranged to meet up with Gong Ge in town.
When Li Qing and Gao Li arrived, Gong Ge was already waiting there with his people.
"Qingzi, I think we really don’t need to go to each village one by one. We can just settle the accounts in town," Gong Ge said, offering Li Qing a bottle of water. "With a total of twelve villages, big and small, it would be impossible to follow through with each one in one day."
This matter had been on Li Qing’s mind all of the previous night.
Going through each village every day, he would eventually fall apart on the way.
But if he didn’t even understand the most basic situation, he was essentially blind.
After thinking for a bit, he said, "Boss Gong, today is the first day. I think I still need to follow and get an understanding of the situation."
"That’s fine, I’m just making a suggestion," Boss Gong replied.
Li Qing opened a bottle and took a couple of sips of water, then took out the money Lü Zong had given him.
Before setting off yesterday, Lü Zong gave him a starting capital of ten thousand.
He distributed one thousand five hundred to each of the six people he brought for Boss Gong, as the expense for buying Wenguan Leaves, with any surplus returned and deficit made up.
"Alright, let’s set off," Li Qing said after distributing the money.
"Okay, let’s go," Boss Gong agreed.
With a broad wave from Boss Gong, six differently styled tricycles left the town, heading in all directions of the compass.
Li Qing asked Gao Li to find a place in the town to rest, while he himself got into Boss Gong’s car.
For the convenience of delivering goods, Boss Gong was driving a double cab today.
After leaving the township, the first village Li Qing encountered already had some issues.
The village chief of Liwan Village only recognized Old Kong the Third and didn’t recognize Li Qing at all.
"Thirty-two you won’t sell, but you insist on selling at twenty-five rigidly? Do you think this seven yuan is too much or what?" Li Qing asked, genuinely puzzled, "Besides, Old Kong the Third won’t come to collect anymore. He’s handed this route over to us."
"Wait a second, what did you just say?" the village chief of Liwan suddenly shouted.
He was born with poor eyesight, and his hearing was somewhat impaired, so he shouted exceptionally loudly.
"Thirty-two, will you sell?" Li Qing had no choice but to shout back.
"Sell!" The village chief of Liwan suddenly changed his attitude, shouting emphatically, "That damned thing descended from that old black donkey, Old Kong the Third, is too heartless, pressing down our price by seven yuan."
"From now on, we people of Liwan recognize you, young man, not any Old Kong the Eighth or Old Kong the Ninth."
Li Qing couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.
This old man changed directions really quickly.
"Liang Zhongliang, go weigh it, and settle the bill for them," Li Qing said to the round-faced, big-eyed young man beside him.
Out of all six people, he felt this youngster was a bit slippery.
That’s why he and Boss Gong chose to follow the two villages Liang Zhongliang had picked first.
Liang Zhongliang, with an air of arrogance and strides as if he had no relations, arrogantly inspected the Wenguan Leaves brought by the villagers.
"This won’t do, man. People are supposed to eat these, not donkeys chew on them, why are you including the stalks?"
"What a lot of water, auntie, your leaves aren’t even two pounds, yet they’ve been sprayed with three pounds of water, haven’t they? Can’t we be a bit more honest? This won’t do!"
"This one’s good, not bad at all. Everyone look, it should be as clean as this!"
"We are offering you seven yuan more per pound, not out of charity, but to buy quality goods."
...
Liang Zhongliang’s confident demeanor quickly subdued those chatty villagers.
Some people clearly had all sorts of impurities mixed in their goods, yet still insisted on haggling and reasoning with Liang Zhongliang.
A stare from Liang Zhongliang and his refusal to take it instantly sent them backing away.
This guy, who naturally appeared ruffian-like, was unexpectedly smooth in handling the task.
"Qingzi, these brothers are all diligent and capable, it’s just that having been around for a long time, each has his own minor flaws," Boss Gong said from the side.
Li Qing nodded, "I don’t see any problems now. Boss Gong, let’s head to the next village."
