Chapter 281: The Product is Out

Farmers are always thinking about their livelihood.

After confirming that the crops had been destroyed over the past two days, most families in the forest farm were worried but had roughly planned some ways to earn money.

Most of them thought about going out to work or do odd jobs.

Although the forest farm had suffered a disaster, the surrounding forest farms were now in peak busy season. Every household was busy with threshing, primarily relying on manual labor, with people helping each other out. However, this meant that some would have to wait their turn, and those with good relationships would get scheduled earlier, while those with less favorable connections or more land had to wait longer.

In October, the weather changes unpredictably, and with the cold temperatures in the forest area, snow could fall at any time. Threshing in the snow would cause the beans to become damp. Therefore, in addition to relying on neighbors, surrounding forest farms also hired people to help with threshing.

Many people from the Eight-Nine Forest Farm were in contact about this matter, preparing to team up and go out. Although there were only about ten days of work, earning ten or so yuan a day would amount to around two hundred yuan after ten days, enough for a family to get through the winter if they economized.

So when Li Daoyun announced the establishment of a mountain specialty collection and processing plant in the forest farm, people began to murmur.

The front of every household was where forest farm residents usually gathered and exchanged information. Groups of three to five people gathered to discuss the new processing plant and the collection of mountain specialties.

At Li You's house.

By evening, people began to arrive in dribs and drabs.

Most of the visitors were not outsiders but Li You's old neighbors. This group of people, who had regular contact with Li You's family, were naturally more familiar with Li Xian's situation.

Although they were a bit wary of the new factory, they were hopeful because of Li You's recent good performance and the previous success with walnut skins, leading them to anticipate the mountain specialty project and seek positions in the new factory.

Seeing these old neighbors coming to support, Li Xian smiled from the kang—having a base was good, and things could get done.

In the evening, at the forest farm guesthouse.

Accountant Liu, Deputy Factory Director Cong, Women's Director Sun Fulai, and Forest Farm Treasurer Zhang Dayou were discussing matters.

Liu glanced at Accountant Liu and said, "Li You has started mobilizing people, huh?"

"Really!" Before Accountant Liu could respond, Sun Fulai, who had just returned from Li You's house, spoke up, "I asked someone who came back from Li You's place. Li You looks all confident, but he actually has no solid foundation. He's just contracted that berry research institute that looks like a yellow stall and is trying to develop mountain specialties. What can he really achieve? Second Pi, you hear?"

Accountant Liu lit a cigarette, "We can't be careless. If Li You manages to stabilize his position as the factory director, we might not get a good deal. Li You hasn't been on good terms with us before. If he ends up managing things well, we might not keep our current positions."

Although Cong was the Deputy Factory Director and the nominal second-in-command of the forest farm, as the saying goes, the deputy director's words mean little if the director is not present. With Gao Dayi out, people naturally gravitated towards Liu Yuan, who controlled the forest farm's finances.

Hearing Accountant Liu's words, everyone's expressions varied.

Even though most of the benefits in the past went to Gao Dayi and Accountant Liu, leaving the others with only a share of the soup, there was still a significant amount of external income from logging tasks and timber business, about three to four thousand a year. This was much better than the hard labor faced by those outside who had nothing to show for their efforts after a disaster. However, now that Li You had taken over, if he performed well as the factory director, he might push them out.

Considering the benefits they had received over the years, the group was reluctant to give them up.

"Accountant Liu, what do you suggest we do?"

"What should we do? Don't let anyone from the factory work with Li You! Go door to door to find some work for everyone. It's already October; if we delay a few more days, it might start snowing. I don't believe that in the snow, they'll still be able to collect those mountain specialties!"

Hearing this, everyone agreed and prepared to spread the word.

Liu Yuan called out, "Hold on, this isn't over yet. How can you run off so soon? Wait, get the money!"

...

Li Daoyun's speech was unknown to Li You.

The next day, Li Xian got up early and stood at the entrance to the forest farm's mountain road—just to see how many people had been mobilized.

At seven-thirty, Li Xian groggily heard scolding noises from the yard.

Looking at his watch, he reluctantly got out of the warm bed after a long time, still sleepy.

What is the most beautiful thing in the world?

Love is precious, and freedom is more valuable. But nothing beats the comfort of a warm bed at seven or eight in the morning on a cold day!

After lounging for a while, Li Xian, still not dressed, wrapped himself in a big quilt, slipped on his shoes, and went outside.

"Damn it! So few people are going up the mountain. How can we get the factory going?" Li You was inside the house, frowning and smoking.

Li Xian, still half-asleep, curiously asked, "How many people went up the mountain?"

Mentioning this made Li You even more annoyed, "I saw only forty to fifty people early in the morning, mostly women. How much can they collect?"

"Oh," Li Xian nodded and waved at Li You, "That's enough. Dad, today take the old neighbors to the sawmill's purchasing office and tell them that with just these forty to fifty people, we'll buy all the prickly ash and schizandra available. Prickly ash at fifty cents a jin, schizandra at thirty cents a jin. If we run out from the mountains, we can buy from outside."

"What's the use of these thirty to fifty people if the nearby mountains can't provide enough? Should we buy from outside?" Li You was still frustrated.

Li Xian chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Dad. Just tell the old neighbors at the purchasing office to stick with these thirty to fifty people. If they don't come in these few days, we won't buy from them anymore!"

"Doesn't that offend people?" Li You asked.

"Just tell them it's about establishing authority," Li Xian said, shivering from the cold wind that had seeped under the quilt.

Li You hesitated for a moment but answered firmly, "Okay!"

After receiving this clear answer, Li Xian waved his hand and went back inside, shivering, "Then do it my way!"

...

In just over a week, the situation had changed.

Although fewer people from the forest farm were mobilized, there were still a lot of schizandra and prickly ash on the mountain. The sawmill collected what was probably around a thousand jin, with prickly ash spread out in the playground waiting to be dried. The sour smell carried with the autumn wind could be smelled from two or three miles away.

During this period, Xu Mao and his team arrived in Bangye. After Li Xian paid the rent to the Forestry Bureau, they took over the factory and began organizing it.

As these tasks were completed, the berry research institute sent news—the schizandra and prickly ash oral liquid was ready.

Li Xian quickly organized, registered the flashy trademark "Guizhen Tang Heart and Brain Health Oral Liquid," and had Bangye Printing Factory create an expensive packaging costing 2.40 yuan each. After a lot of busy work, the product was ready.

At the berry research institute.

Xu Mao and his team, carrying the exceptionally beautiful gift boxes of oral liquid, arrived with stars in their eyes.

"This stuff, we should at least sell for 200 yuan a box, right?"

Li Xian, hands behind his back, smiled broadly.

"200? Nonsense! That yak bone powder sells for 400 a box. Our genuine mountain specialty product can't be priced lower than that!"