My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 111: Treat the writers who come to exchange ideas with good food and drinks

"Collect the knife loach, what is this kid doing now?"

Han Futian put down his work notebook. His work points had increased a lot in the past few days. There was no way around it. It was too hard. More and more people were doing the heavy physical work of carrying water, so the work points increased accordingly. However, the autumn harvest was almost 100% reduced.

This made all the cadres in the brigade very worried. They held meetings until midnight these days, but there was no good solution. If they really had the ability to get a water pump, it could alleviate the situation a little, but there were only a few of them in the entire Maya Commune.

Hanjiaba, ranked last and with relatively little farmland, wouldn't be able to get a spot next year and could only rely on the brigade's social support. They put all other tasks aside to focus on disaster relief and drought relief, so almost half the workforce was mobilized to fetch water.

As a result, Li Feng had no choice but to slack off these days. He drove the ox cart to transport water, truly following God's will to grab the harvest. However, no one had much confidence as to whether he could grab the harvest or how much he could grab. He could only pray that the next month would come soon.

Otherwise, a reduction in production would not be just talk, even a total loss of production would be very likely. Li Feng had no good way to deal with the drought. Not to mention that he could only alleviate the drought in the future. Even if there were complete pumping equipment at that time, the drought problem could not be completely solved.

This is even more so now. Seeing this, Li Feng simply called out to his sisters-in-law on the pretext of collecting knife loaches. Knife loaches are relatively easy to catch in the river recently because there is less water. As for how many you can catch, it depends on your ability.

Li Feng had been keeping the news of the knife loach, and he had been shouting to his sister-in-law, An Dun, and An You, the poor families in the team who helped him build a house. However, the news spread within a few days, and other families also came to inquire about the news.

Li Feng did not hide it, he bought it at a high price. Before Li Feng could think of a reason, a member of the team thought of it and thought that Li Feng's relative in the big city must have fallen ill and needed knife loach as medicine, so he bought it.

Good boy, Li Feng thought, you guys are right, that's why they're buying grain at 30 cents a pound, they're in urgent need, and they're buying it openly, even taking out a few big black tens. This is really a big deal, 30 cents a pound, you know how much the buyback grain is, 8 or 9 cents a pound.

Catching a pound of razor loach can be exchanged for several pounds of grain. Now, when the work is over, the entire river is full of people, young and old, men and women, all going out to catch razor loach. It is a spectacular sight. Although there are few razor loach, there are many people, so catching more than ten pounds a day is not a problem.

On average, each family would catch about half a catty or eight ounces of fish, and they could also catch some other fish and shrimp, which Li Feng would also buy. Although the price was slightly lower, at least he could still make a dime. At the end of the day, this guy could make a lot of money, some could make a dime or two.

Calculated this way, it was equivalent to one day's work points. Now more people went to the river to catch knife loaches. Most of the people in the production team went to catch knife loaches, fish and shrimps. It was hard for team cadres like Han Futian not to know about it.

“I have money to burn.”

Han Fuguo's lips were dry and cracked these days due to his anxiety. His mind was full of drought relief, and he was anxious and angry. He never thought that Li Feng was still a worry.

"Speaking of which, this kid actually has some money."

Han Futian flipped open the account book and pointed to an entry from the day before yesterday. "He came back a couple of days ago to pay back some money for lumber. Now, this guy's getting around 20 yuan a month in subsidies, and another 20 yuan a month from relatives. That makes 30 or 40 yuan, plus royalties. It's quite a bit."

"Yeah, An Jun just told me a few days ago that the sow he wrote was published, and he got over a hundred yuan in royalties right away."

Han Fuguo slurred his lips; his teeth had been aching lately. "He said he was planning to buy a bicycle. Look, this kid, oh, how can he be so careless with his money? It's like a dog can't hold two ounces of sesame oil in its stomach."

"Third brother, you're wrong. This kid, with the subsidy plus the money his family sends him every month, earns more than the average worker's salary. Not to mention he can also write articles and get paid for them. How can he be short of money? If you ask me, this kid spends too much money recklessly. He'd better subsidize our team."

"That's right. Now he's collecting knife loaches. We can just catch more and sell them to him. Didn't he say the more the better? Maybe he can make money by selling them to his relatives." Several production team leaders and the women's team leader had different opinions.

After all, every family has earned a dollar or eighty cents these days. This is cash. Farmers rarely have the opportunity to see cash throughout the year. In a better society where they rely on welfare, they may not have even a dollar at home. Now, several children and the elderly in the family can earn fifty cents or a dollar by trading in the river for a few days. Who wouldn't be happy?

As for whether those who paid the money are losing money or being cheated, they don’t care.

Han Fuguo really didn't have the energy to care about this brat. The most important thing right now was to fight the drought and maintain the harvest. This was the top priority. As for Li Feng's matter, it would be put on the back burner. "When you have time, go ask this kid what he's doing. Don't let him forget the value of money just to eat some dried fish."

"I'll go ask later."

Han Futian was helpless. Everyone was staring at the big unity notes in Li Feng's hand. What could he do? He couldn't tell them to stop fishing. Li Feng's money wasn't easy to come by. After all, everyone knew that the autumn harvest this year might not be much. By the end of the year, even those with sufficient labor might not have enough food to eat, and other families would probably have it even harder.

Most families were on relief food, and even buying food was hard to come by. Now there was a way to make money that wasn't difficult, so who wouldn't want to do it, especially Li Feng? He called out to his sister-in-law and arranged for a few people to work. After working for a month, they earned 80 cents a day, which came out to more than 20 yuan per person.

This guy bought hundreds of kilograms of repurchased grain in cash. Many people didn't have so much cash in the whole year, which made other members envious. Now, everyone can sell fish to Li Feng. Now no one envies anyone, and everyone goes to the river to catch fish.

As for the production team, they also turned a blind eye. After all, the river was almost dry. If they stopped catching fish and shrimp, they would probably die. Not only the production team, but even the commune turned a blind eye when they knew about it.

Little did Li Feng know that the brigade cadres had been discussing the matter for a long time about collecting some razor-finned loaches. At this moment, Li Feng was happily fetching water. He didn't need the wooden basin at home at all, so he first made room for a broken water tank and planned to fill it with water to raise all the razor-finned loaches.

As for other small fish and shrimps, eat what you can eat, and dry the leftovers into dried fish and eat them. There is no other way, the vitality of the knife loach is similar to that of the loach, so it is not difficult to raise it, but other small fish and shrimps are difficult to raise.

Most of them died soon after being taken out of the water, so they had no choice but to dry them out in the sun. Right now, these small fish and shrimp alone probably weighed over 10 to 20 kilograms. Li Feng wasn't worried about running out of money at all; he had received his royalties for his work on postpartum sow care.

Although he hasn't received it yet, he has received the remittance slip and can withdraw the money at any time. He is not afraid of anything. Several readers have also replied. Several poems and replies have been selected. It will take some time for them to be published, but the royalties may be sent out at the beginning of next month.

The total amount is at least thirty, if not fifty. Besides, the pig farmer that Li Feng sent the letter to also received a reply, saying that there were no major problems in the preliminary review, but only some aspects needed to be modified. The modified content has been sent to Li Feng.

It's not a big problem. The system produces it and is responsible for the revisions. Li Feng doesn't have to worry about it. It is basically certain that it will be published next month at the latest, and the manuscript fee can be received by the end of next month at the latest. It will only take about a month.

Five yuan for a signature, more than 20,000 words cost more than 100 yuan. If you add the subsidy next month, it will be at least 170 or 180 yuan, not to mention the bamboo craftsman experience task that is about to be completed, which will definitely be completed next month at the latest.

If you calculate it this way, another article, as long as it is a novel, is at least three to five thousand words, which means it can earn dozens of yuan. Next month, you will definitely earn about two hundred yuan, which is not to mention high income. It's even higher than what the two brothers can earn.

Li Feng couldn't take any of this money home, so he decided to buy a bicycle to make it easier to get around. The industrial coupons were enough, and he was just waiting for the royalties to come in. Then, he'd start buying a bicycle and become the second man in Hanjiaba to own one.

"uncle."

Han Mingliang ran in excitedly, carrying a bamboo basket. "Uncle, come and take a look, what did I catch for you?"

"what's that?"

Li Feng muttered, and when he got closer, he was shocked. A snake with a triangular head, this must be a poisonous snake. This kid, actually did this, isn't he afraid of getting bitten? "Poisonous snake?"

"Hmm." "Seven-step snake."

Han Mingliang said with a bit of pride. "That's amazing! I haven't caught many, but this is the biggest one I've ever caught. Uncle, this is great for making wine."

"Don't."

Just kidding, Li Feng didn't dare to soak this kind of venomous snake in wine. Otherwise, it wouldn't work and he would be poisoned to death. That would be too embarrassing. After all, he was a person with a system. Li Feng decided to skin it and stew it into soup.

Li Feng wondered if there were any parasites. He had to clean it up properly and make sure the soup was well-cooked. "It's a pity there's no pressure cooker."

"Forget it, safety first."

I'll put it aside for now and bring it back to the B&B to stew it. I'll try to improve it, and at least the parasite problem will be solved. "This snake is quite large. Uncle will give you fifty cents."

"By the way, don't catch this next time. It's poisonous and very dangerous. I won't tell your parents this time, but if you do it again, I'll tell your grandfather and beat your butt." This kid is so brave that he even dares to catch a poisonous snake.

Li Feng was not so brave. If he caught some knife loaches, at most they would prick his butt and break it. If he caught a rat snake and got bitten by it, at most it would cause a red bump like a mosquito bite. But the seven-step snake in front of him was different. It was really fatal.

Han Mingliang originally wanted to say that this snake was easy to catch and he would not be bitten at all, but seeing Li Feng glaring at him, he did not dare to talk back, for fear that Li Feng would tell his grandfather. Han Mingliang was a little afraid of his parents but not intimidated, but he was like a mouse seeing a cat when it came to his grandfather.

"Hurry up, and don't spend the money you saved."

Li Feng was a little afraid that this kid would do something reckless. He even dared to catch poisonous snakes. What else could he not do? The weasel's nest was almost destroyed. He caught two more and sold their skins in the past few days. Huang Xian'er's legs trembled when she saw him.

"I just want to buy picture books."

"That is not bad."

Li Feng thought that comic books were fine, but he was really afraid that this kid would use rat poison and pesticides to set traps and kill people. There was nothing wrong with buying comic books, no matter how many he bought, at most he would only get Jin Ping Mei, and he could never reach the sky.

"Here I'll get you two cookies. Go ahead."

"Thank you, uncle."

Han Mingliang ran away happily with Han Mingcong and the others. Li Feng put the seven-step snake aside and said to Daya, Erya and Zhang Wenjuan, "Don't touch it. This thing will bite you and it's no joke."

"Tu tu tu tu."

Just as I was about to clean up and make lunch, I heard the sound of a motorcycle outside the yard. "Public Security Officer Wu?"

Sure enough, when I went out, I saw Wu Shengnan and Wu Xiaofeng coming. I was afraid that they were delivering letters from readers again. "Scars" seemed to be getting more and more popular. I didn't expect that banned books could have such a huge traffic in later generations. Now "Scars" was spread in an alternative way.

It spreads more widely than newspapers and magazines. It has recently spread to the county. Wu Shengnan came here not only to help Wu Xiaofeng deliver the letter, but also to tell Li Feng that there might be readers, literature lovers, or writers who would come to him to communicate in the next few days.

"Looking to communicate with me?"

You must be kidding. Just write a letter. What's there to communicate? Li Feng doesn't really want people like this to come to his house and disturb his life.

"Who made you so famous now?"

Wu Xiaofeng smiled as she handed Li Feng a large packet of letters from readers. "Those poems you wrote are now spreading like wildfire. The night gave me a pair of black eyes, but I use them to search for light, and for the spring flowers blooming as I face the sea."

"Ah, has this spread too?"

Li Feng muttered. He wasn't surprised that the scars had spread, but how could the poems written in response spread? They hadn't even been published yet. "I'm afraid no one knows about this. These poems are listed below the scars copied by the county."

"That's it."

Poetry is very popular among some young literature lovers these days, even more so than novels. Poets are a bit like idol stars in later generations. Of course, you must have some talent. After all, literature lovers these days are all very proud, and if you don’t have some talent, they really look down on you.

"I see."

What a hassle! Li Feng took the letter from the reader and sighed helplessly. "Hey, this is a letter from the editorial department of Poetry Magazine. This is strange. I have never sent them a manuscript. Last time, Chunnuan rejected it."

Li Feng muttered to himself as he opened the letter. He was a little stunned at the sight. What the hell? This person meant that they could publish Spring Blossoms. Haha, this guy must be joking. Besides, the tone was really unpleasant. You rejected the manuscript and now you want to publish it again.

Li Feng tossed it aside, not bothering to pay attention. However, Wu Shengnan and Wu Xiaofeng were a little confused. "This is a letter from the editorial department of Poetry Magazine. Has the manuscript been accepted?"

"No, it was about the last time when spring came and flowers bloomed..."

Li Dong didn't hide it. He had rejected the manuscript, but now he wrote again, wanting to publish it. Wu Shengnan and Wu Xiaofeng were a little confused. "What does this mean?"

"You didn't like it before, but now you like it again?"

“But Poetry Magazine is quite famous.”

Wu Shengnan was quite fond of poetry and was familiar with Poetry Magazine, which was one of the top-ranked poetry publications. "Do you want it?"

"never mind."

Li Feng thought to himself that this had already been agreed upon with other newspapers and magazines, and it would be difficult for him to break the contract. Besides, he was not very interested in poetry magazines in the first place.

(End of this chapter)