Chapter 7: Someone Got There First?

After over four hours of bumpy travel, Li Xian finally arrived back at the lumberyard.

It was already getting dark.

He didn't have time to go home; instead, he headed straight to Aunt Ma's house. As soon as he entered the yard, he was stunned.

The yard was covered with tarps, and on them… were neatly cut and dried walnut skins, turned a deep brown!

Looking at the sheer volume, there must be several thousand pounds!

"Wow!" He couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.

The large yellow dog, which had been pushed out of space by the walnut skins, barked wildly at the sight of a stranger. Aunt Ma came out upon hearing the noise and, upon seeing Li Xian, excitedly started talking about her achievements: "Xianzi, why are you just coming back now? Your brother has no money left. I sent back a lot of what was sent later!"

Li Xian was taken aback. "How much did you collect?"

Aunt Ma pointed to a large basket she had. "Just this basket, fifty cents per basket, four hundred baskets in total. That's two hundred bucks! I cleaned, cut, and dried them just like you asked!"

That large basket could hold about twenty to thirty pounds.

Even if it shrunk by half after drying, each basket would still hold at least ten pounds of dried walnut skins. So, the yard and garden together must have at least four thousand pounds!

My goodness!

Aunt Ma continued, proudly explaining, "It's a good thing you left this to me. If not for the short walnut-picking season, we wouldn't have gathered so much if we hadn't collected them quickly. But this is all there is. With the hot weather these days, the walnuts ripened quickly, and the skins on the trees are already rotting. According to your instructions, those won't be usable."

Li Xian understood her meaning.

He took out thirty bucks and handed it over. "Thanks for your effort, Aunt Ma. I'll pack these up tomorrow, but I might not be able to move them all at once. I might need a few days."

"It's fine!" Aunt Ma took the money, beaming with joy. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she asked, "But… Xianzi, what are you going to do with all these?"

Li Xian smiled mysteriously. "It has its uses!"

Leaving Aunt Ma burning with curiosity, Li Xian quickly headed back home.

The atmosphere at home was a bit tense.

That evening, Li You, Zou Ni, and Li Qing went to the Wang family's place, hoping to talk things over and bring Wang Feng back. However, Wang Feng, who had already learned of the plan to take back the house, resolutely refused to return, stating plainly that she would not come back if they didn't give up on the house.

The whole family was upset.

When they returned from Jianli County, Li Pi kept making gestures, indicating something. Li You and Zou Ni sighed, asking Li Xian how things went with the school leaders and how the work arrangements were. During this, the old couple also complained about Aunt Ma going crazy, collecting walnut skins all over the lumberyard and even asking the fourth child to help.

Li Xian, thinking about the walnut skins, ate some leftover food and half-heartedly answered them before heading to the east room.

"Second Brother, my real brother! You spent two hundred bucks as you suggested, but what about the walnut skins?"

Having spent the largest sum of money in his life on what seemed like worthless walnut skins had really distressed Li Pi.

Li Xian picked at his teeth with a broken matchstick and hummed, "What to do? Get a vehicle and take them to the forestry bureau! Heh, you think these walnut skins are worthless? Maybe now they're in demand."

Li Pi rolled his eyes, ignoring what he thought was his second brother's bragging, "Second Brother, where are we going to find a vehicle?"

Li Xian grinned, "Gao Ming, that kid, has been close with the third brother lately. We can use that."

…

Gao Ming, from the Eight-Nine Lumberyard, was definitely a second-generation official. His father, Gao Guang, was the current head of the lumberyard, a big shot in the area.

Li Xian had quite a bit of interaction with his uncle. Although Li Jie had been neglected in her husband's family after marriage, Gao Ming had been quite good to her. Despite Gao Ming's somewhat arrogant attitude of "I'm the best in the village," Li Xian found him relatively easy to deal with.

Well, as long as he went along with Gao Ming's boasting.

That night, when Li Jie returned, Li Xian asked her to take him to see Gao Ming. At first, Li Jie was hesitant, saying it wasn't proper to visit someone so late at night.

But when Li Xian pointed out, "You're going to have to go out with him later anyway," she gave up resisting.

On the path to the lumberyard headquarters, Li Xian met Gao Ming, who was waiting for Li Jie by the roadside.

Seeing Li Xian, Gao Ming looked visibly nervous. "S-s-second Brother!"

Seeing this kid so different from his impression, Li Xian felt amused. He thought to himself, "Indeed, the power of the uncle is enormous in this era!"

When Li Xian mentioned needing a vehicle to transport some items to the forestry bureau, Gao Ming patted his chest confidently. "No problem! This is a small matter. Just let Xiaojie tell me, and you don't need to come all the way here yourself. It's quite scary at night."

It seemed Gao Ming thought Li Xian and Li Jie were having a secret rendezvous, and he was worried about being caught.

The vehicle arrangement was settled.

The next morning, Gao Ming personally drove a Shifeng tricycle over.

Li Xian took him directly to Aunt Ma's house, loaded the walnut skins that were already packed into sacks onto the vehicle. After a flurry of activity, he, along with Li Pi, drove the tricycle to the forestry bureau.

At this time, there were basically no traffic cops checking for driver's licenses on agricultural tricycles, so Li Xian confidently hit the road.

Seeing Li Pi glancing around, Li Xian couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

They say brothers fight together in battles and sons fight in battles; what about me?

The tricycle's speed was slower than Old Zhou's old Red Leaf, and after bouncing along for over five hours, the father and son finally arrived at the agricultural market of the forestry bureau.

Just as he was thinking of finding a large sign to advertise the "authentic walnut skins," Li Xian was struck with a cold sweat by what he discovered.

In the agricultural market, there were already several small stalls selling walnut skins, and there were quite a few people in front of these stalls!

Damn it,

This is bad. It looks like all my efforts might be for nothing, and I might end up just providing others with a profit?!

Li Xian left Li Pi behind and immediately approached the nearest stall. He saw a man in his thirties, sweating profusely, busy with a small scale.

"Big Brother, how much are these walnut skins per pound?" he asked, trying to probe through the crowd.

"One yuan!"

Damn, that's steep!

Li Xian cursed the vendor silently, marveling at how sensitive the market had become in this era, while also feeling a pang of disappointment.

Damn, this is the trend I created!

But when he saw the quality of the walnut skins being sold, his heart eased a bit.

The walnut skins being sold were not fully dried, and the surface was mottled with decay. They looked like fresh skins just picked from the mountain in the past few days. Just as Aunt Ma said, they were the last batch due to the heat causing the walnuts to rot and peel.

Compared to his own high-quality goods, these were far inferior.

It seemed that the article he had published in the Forestry News had indeed increased the market value of walnut skins. Even these inferior goods could be sold for a yuan per pound.

Seeing that Li Xian remained silent after asking the price, the vendor continued to sell. "Little Brother, buy some. This is the last batch of the year. If you don't buy now, you won't get any more!"

Li Xian sneered inwardly and thought, "Just stop already."

Returning to the tricycle loaded with "treasures," Li Xian was now puffed up with pride.

"Second Brother, how much are you selling these for?"

Li Xian waved his hand grandly, picked up the scale he borrowed from Aunt Ma, and, with his energy gathered, shouted in the agricultural market, "Walnut skins! Dried walnut skins! Two yuan per pound, buy five pounds and get one free! Limited quantity, buy quickly!"