Chapter 101: Target: The North

Li Xian had no intention of being unreasonable; he genuinely couldn't move. Though the pain in his head had eased considerably, he was still quite dizzy.

Fortunately, Su Ya wasn't very strong, otherwise, that hit to the back of his head would have done serious damage.

He intended to sleep for a while, but as soon as he closed his eyes, Su Ya woke him up by shaking him.

"What's up?"

Seeing Su Ya's furrowed brow, Li Xian asked.

Su Ya pointed to her lips and then to the wall, mimicking a sleeping pose. After that, she patted the kang (a traditional bed) and waved her hands.

At that moment, Li Xian heard a coughing sound, followed by a woman's voice calling out, "Xiao Ya, I heard someone talking in the house just now?"

Damn!

Li Xian was startled. He had forgotten that Su Ya had a mother at home!

As he was about to speak, Su Ya quickly covered his mouth with her small hand, shaking her head anxiously. She then turned on a broken radio, turned up the volume, and patted the fire wall.

When the person on the other side of the wall coughed again and asked her to turn down the radio, Su Ya's tension slightly eased. She knelt on the kang, put her hands together in a begging gesture, and looked at Li Xian.

Seeing Li Xian's blank stare, Su Ya, in a moment of desperation, grabbed a notebook and pencil from a cluttered desk by the kang, wrote some characters, and handed them to him.

"Please, hurry up and leave! If my mom sees you, I'm doomed!"

Li Xian grinned and whispered, "Who told you to hit me?"

Su Ya didn't write this time; instead, she quickly pointed to her own head, then at Li Xian, and made a fierce expression. She then lowered her head in frustration.

Li Xian understood; she might have mistaken him for one of the group led by Er Lvzi. He smiled slightly and whispered, "Don't worry, those people won't bother you again."

Seeing Su Ya's puzzled expression, he got up, rubbed his stiff neck, and got out of bed.

Although she didn't understand what he was talking about, seeing him get out of bed, Su Ya quickly went to the door, opened it, looked out, and then waved at Li Xian to come.

Seeing her acting like a thief in her own home, Li Xian couldn't help but laugh as he stepped outside.

Hearing the door lock behind him, he shook his head and looked at the notebook in his hand.

By the time he returned to the retirement home, it was already ten o'clock.

He tidied himself up, lay on the bed, and opened the notebook—it was a primary school student's pinyin grid notebook, but it had been used as a diary.

"November 5th: Ran into those bastards again today. Xiao Hui fought with them. Those people are getting more and more outrageous. Just because I can't speak?"

...

"November 16th: Xiao Hui has been an apprentice at the lumber mill for two days. I wonder how he's doing."

...

"November 19th: Mom was angry because I wore Director Li's clothes home. Even though that man left over ten years ago, she still holds a grudge. She says men are no good. Is that true?"

Looking at the casual and brief entries in the notebook, Li Xian gradually fell asleep.

...

Early the next morning, Li Xian, preoccupied with his thoughts, dragged himself out of bed.

The impact from last night had really taken its toll. The bump on the back of his head was even bigger than it was last night. Looking in the mirror, it seemed like he had grown a weird bump.

At the factory, Li Xian noticed that many people were whispering and pointing at his head.

"Looks like his brain got knocked out."

He vaguely heard workers saying such things and glared at them.

Damn, why are people so rude!

The twelve truckloads of raw timber had already been stacked neatly in the factory yard. These were the root sections of larch trees, each with a radius of at least 30 cm and a length of about four meters. Altogether, they amounted to more than 360 cubic meters of timber, piled up like a small mountain, quite impressive.

Li Xian had no plans to use this timber for making toilet paper. Currently, the raw materials for toilet paper production were mainly wood chips and sawdust. Using these whole logs for production was laborious and wasteful.

This larch timber was excellent for flooring or furniture, but Li Xian didn't have the facilities for deep processing at the moment, so he planned to sell it.

In the logging region, most timber, aside from what is submitted to the Forest Industry Bureau, flows into the construction material market in Ice City. Li Xian's plan was to sell this timber in that market.

According to the current double-track system loophole, a cubic meter of raw timber, excluding transportation costs, could yield a profit of about 80 yuan. This means that selling these logs could result in nearly 30,000 yuan in profit!

"Damn it, selling resources is the most profitable!"

Cursing the other unscrupulous traders who made their fortunes from timber, Li Xian returned to his office and called Xu Maoheng.

During the call, he discussed two things: one was to help find someone to sell the timber, and the other was to suggest Xu Maoheng to sell off his aluminum ingots to free up capital.

"Bro, are aluminum ingot prices going to drop?"

From past events, Xu Maoheng had come to believe that Li Xian was either a genius with a keen sense of the economy or had special connections to know policies in advance. Hearing Li Xian suggest selling the batch of aluminum ingots in the south, Xu Maoheng was startled and asked urgently.

"Prices definitely won't drop, but the profit of one or two hundred yuan per ton isn't worth the trouble. Xu Ge, I want to head north," Li Xian replied calmly, propping his feet on the desk and rubbing his neck.

Hearing this, Xu Maoheng was intrigued, "Bro, any big business up north?"

Li Xian smiled slightly, "Hmm… not sure yet, but I want to check it out."

"Hey, that's a coincidence. I just sold off that batch of aluminum ingots. Damn, didn't make any money from that deal, and I was wondering what to do next. Want to go together?"

Li Xian had a good impression of Xu Maoheng and had hoped to team up. Seeing Xu Maoheng respond promptly, he laughed, "Sure, find someone reliable to handle the timber. I'll take care of things at the factory and come find you soon!"

"Got it! I'll wait for your call."

Hanging up the phone, Li Xian felt more at ease. Although he knew there would be a major upheaval in the north in December, he wasn't sure how to handle it and had no detailed knowledge of the situation there.

With Xu Maoheng, an experienced trader, joining him, things would be much easier!

...

With the opening of the Northern Forest Paper Mill, orders had been sent out to the supply chain. Over the next few days, as the only high-end toilet paper, the Xinlang Special was showing strong competitiveness in the wholesale market. The factory received a series of replenishment orders.

Previously, Li Xian had reached an agreement with the Second Light Bureau and other raw material suppliers for monthly payment terms. The factory's funds had accumulated to 160,000 yuan.

Adding the 100,000 yuan from the Agricultural Credit Union that hadn't been touched, Li Xian felt he had a preliminary capital.

Well, capital for a trader!