My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 130: Craftsmen’s Guide to Wealth

Li Feng was a little upset because he had overpaid for the game. Although he made a lot of money from it, he still felt unhappy. "Alas, I spent all my savings on all that game."

"We have to find some way to make some money."

We're not short of food and drink at home right now, but we're broke. We didn't come here just to get a bite to eat. That's not right. We have to make money. "I wonder if there's been any investigation into speculation lately?"

"Ask Public Security Huang later."

Li Feng figured that trading in industrial products was the fastest way to make money, but he was afraid of being considered a speculator. "With just the money from my writing, it's hard to even scrape together enough to buy a bicycle."

"It's a pity for the Gao Ju brothers. They were really scared during the last fight."

I'm afraid this carpenter won't work. A barber won't make much money in a short time. Besides, decent brigades have door-to-door barbers who provide them with some food and money throughout the year. It's very cheap, so I don't think they will accept barbers from outside.

There are state-owned barbershops in the city, and the prices are not too high. Besides, it is not very popular to set up stalls nowadays, as you might be arrested by the police. Even if you set up a stall, you still need a letter of introduction, and when you go to the city, you still have to follow the city regulations.

You spend a lot of effort to get into the city, but you are chased back again. It is not easy to make money now.

“It’s impossible to do it privately.”

Li Feng thought to himself, I'll go back and talk to Brother Gao Ju to see if there's any way out. We have to make some money anyway. "Otherwise, I won't even have enough money to buy the old stuff or the knife loach."

"dad."

Li Feng was just worrying about how to make money when Erya came running over. "What's wrong?"

"My sister is back."

"And grandpa and grandma."

"Yeah, let's walk home."

Uncle Wu, Aunt Wang, Wu Tong, and Qin Yue, the four of them set out for the commune early in the morning. Aunt Wang was in good spirits. When they arrived at the commune, they saw so many familiar things, and the old couple was even more so.

Wu Tong and Qin Yue were inevitably introduced to the various things they saw. Compared to Wu Tong and Qin Yue, they were much more familiar with the things sold at the market. It was only when they were hungry at noon that they remembered that they had no money on them.

These days, it’s hard to move forward without money, so I had no choice but to come back.

"Uncle Wu, Aunt Wang, how's it going? Is the commune lively?"

“It’s quite lively.”

Wu Zhenhua no longer regarded Li Feng as a B&B owner. Although the health banquet was good and Li Feng was a good person, he was just a B&B owner after all. But now it was different. Crossing time and space was an incredible thing.

As a person who possesses this ability, Li Feng is like a god. When facing Li Feng, Wu Zhenhua showed some respect and awe, which was completely different from before.

"When I have time later, I'll accompany you to visit the county town."

Li Feng said with a smile. "It's rare to come here."

"That would be too much trouble for you."

"It's okay, it should be."

The registration fee is 20,000 yuan per person, Li Feng thought. "Have you eaten yet?"

After asking, Li Feng slapped his forehead. He had really forgotten that Wu Tong and Qin Yue didn't have the money or food coupons from here, so how could they afford to eat? "Uncle Wu, Aunt Wang, you two take a break first. I'll go cook."

"It's too troublesome, let's do it ourselves."

"Grandma, this is the earthen stove."

Wu Tong whispered a reminder that earthen stoves are different from natural gas stoves.

"What's wrong with the earthen stove? Your grandfather and I have been using it for many years."

This is no joke. Wu Zhenhua and his wife have actually lived in the countryside. Back then, there was no liquefied gas or natural gas, so burning earth stoves was very normal.

"Auntie Wang, you should take a rest. Daya will help Dad."

Li Feng waved to Daya and told her to simply stir-fry some dishes and cook some mixed grain rice. As for the rice, it was not that Li Feng was reluctant to give it up, but in today's world, especially when the drought is so severe, if you were seen eating rice by others, it might cause a lot of trouble.

Daya was making a fire and Li Feng was chopping vegetables. Wang Yin, who had planned to lend a hand, saw that there was no place for her to work, after all, the kitchen was not big and was short.

"Grandma, take a break."

I walked a lot this morning and grandma wasn't feeling well.

"fine."

Wang Yin was in good spirits, surveying the items in the room. "Old man, we're really back! This is truly something I've dreamed of."

"Yes."

Wu Zhenhua lamented, "I remember back then, all we thought about was getting a few pounds of rice, a few pounds of meat, and braised pork with rice."

"Think about multi-grain rice. Sweet potato rice is also very delicious."

"Of course I did. At that time, I thought it wasn't as good as rice. Now I think multi-grain rice is more delicious."

Li Feng listened and smiled, thinking that he had hit the jackpot unexpectedly. He had mixed grain rice and stir-fried some eggplant shreds. He felt embarrassed to serve one dish, so he stir-fried some pickled vegetables, dried bamboo shoots and some diced meat.

"dinner time."

Li Feng invited Wu Zhenhua and his wife, Wu Tong, and Qin Yue to have dinner.

As for Daya, Erya, and himself, they had just eaten from the big pot, so they were not hungry at the moment. Gao Ju's brothers and Li Muchen followed the hunting team into the mountains, which saved some food.

"Boss Li, do you have any plans for this afternoon?"

While eating, Wu Tong recalled the scene when she and Qin Yue first came here to work. She was afraid that Li Feng would do something wrong and her grandparents would not be able to withstand it.

“No specific arrangements.”

Li Feng said, "Uncle Wu, Aunt Wang, let me take you to visit the dam."

"But there's nothing to see. We're in a severe drought right now, and everyone's busy fighting the drought and reducing disasters," Li Feng said. "But hunting, what nonsense am I talking about?"

"There's really nothing good to visit for the time being."

"It's okay. It's nice for me to go for a walk with your Aunt Wang."

Wu Zhenhua said with a smile, "If I weren't so old, I'd like to go fetch water and help."

"grandfather."

Wu Tong shouted, "The work in the production team is not something that ordinary people can do."

"Yeah, Grandpa Wu is so tiring."

Qin Yue trembled in her heart when she thought of the first few days when she came here to work. It was simply not a job for a human being. I guess hell is like that.

"You youngsters."

Wu Zhenhua looked at his wife. "Your grandmother and I did a lot of farm work when we were young."

"really?"

Wu Tong was a little bit incredulous when she saw her grandmother nod. "Your grandfather and I stayed in the countryside for a long time."

"That's it."

“We only returned to the city in the early 1980s.”

Wu Zhenhua said, "At that time, your third uncle had just started elementary school, but your eldest uncle and your father had to endure a lot of hardships with us."

"My uncle and my father also worked in the production team?"

"Of course not," Wu Zhenhua said. "These days, if you don't work, you won't have food to eat."

"Back then, your grandmother and I might not have had enough to eat year-round," Wu Zhenhua said. "Thankfully, things got better later, or your uncle would have starved."

After finishing lunch, Wu Zhenhua and Wang Yin helped Li Feng clean up the dishes.

The two took a break and followed Li Feng for a walk in the dam in the afternoon. There were many women working in the dam, and the men were secretly looking at Wu Zhenhua and Wang Yin.

Although the two men were dressed in ordinary clothes, one could tell at a glance that they were city people.

"Why did Li Feng bring people from the city back again?"

"I'm afraid they're from some unit. There were quite a few people there last time."

Pig farm technicians often come over, and with the addition of writers and the like, Li Feng's house has been very lively recently.

"I heard that those who come from the city never come empty-handed."

"That's right. I've seen people coming to my house these days carrying apples and malted milk."

"Really? Apples, and malted milk?"

"Of course not. Maybe there are food stamps or something."

"Oh my god, isn't Li Feng a fat year yet?"

"That's not great, it's just that he's capable."

"What ability do you have?" Of course, Han Angui's family didn't want to hear it, and they couldn't help but say a few sour words behind his back, such as "stinky old ninth" and so on.

Li Feng greeted everyone and led Wu Zhenhua and Wang Yin down the hillside along the path. They happened to run into a group of water carriers. Han Anmin glanced at Wu Zhenhua and Wang Yin, thinking they might be the two people Li Feng had mentioned, planning to go to the city to inquire about government policies.

It's obvious that he is a cultured person. Han Anmin nodded to Wu Zhenhua and Wang Yin.

"Deputy Captain."

Li Feng introduced him. "His father is the team leader."

"Cadres have to work much harder now than they did later."

Wu Zhenhua couldn't help but sigh. These days, cadres are expected to lead the way, especially young cadres, who are expected to work themselves to death. "How many days has it been since it rained here?"

"About two months ago, yes."

Li Feng said, "Alas, if it doesn't rain, the autumn harvest will be difficult."

"That's what I'm afraid of. There's no good way to deal with drought these days."

Wu Zhenhua glanced at the water-carrying team. This was hard work and not something that ordinary people could do.

"No."

Li Feng sighed helplessly. "The team plans to go into the mountains to cut trees and bamboo, and bring them to the city to exchange for some money. After all, we live off the mountains, so we need to get as much food as possible, otherwise we'll have a hard time getting through the winter."

"The land in this basin is not fertile to begin with. Even in good weather, famine still occurs, let alone drought."

After all, Li Feng had been here so many times that he knew a lot about Hanjiaba. "Uncle Wu, do you have any ideas?"

"idea?"

Wu Zhenhua frowned slightly, then smiled wryly and shook his head. "It's hard to get enough to eat these days. Selling wood and bamboo wouldn't even buy enough food. Besides, the roads out of the dam are difficult to navigate, so transporting wood and bamboo is a real challenge."

"Yes."

The road to the commune is very difficult to travel. Timber and bamboo have to be pulled out bit by bit by manpower. Ox carts can only play a small role. The road is bumpy and it definitely requires a lot of effort from people.

"But furniture is quite popular in the city right now."

“Furniture is in high demand.”

Li Feng slapped his forehead. "That's right. Nowadays, buying furniture requires a furniture ticket. You can't just buy it whenever you want." Generally, you have to get married to apply for a furniture ticket. Of course, most people in rural areas get one themselves.

Some people from the city would also sneak into the countryside, spend money to buy some wood and make some furniture, and of course the price was not low.

“I’m afraid the government won’t allow it.”

Li Feng frowned slightly. He needed to discuss this matter with Han Fuguo. "I don't know. If it works out, will I get a commission?"

"Gao Ju, if Brother Gao Cheng takes the lead, I can get a 10% commission."

"If I go into battle myself, then it's 20 percent."

Li Feng wasn't really good at carpentry, but he was pretty good at bamboo weaving. He just didn't have the right tools. "The bamboo weaving I made last time was okay, but the quantity was too small to sell in the city. Country folks aren't very interested in fine bamboo products. The main issue is the price. If it's too high, people won't buy it. If it's too low, it's not worth it."

"If only we could bring the entire production team along."

Li Feng pondered for a moment and decided that perhaps he could give it a try. Since they were good carpenters, the two brothers could take the lead. Then they could create some new styles that city dwellers would definitely like, like modular cabinets and large wardrobes.

After all, cabinets these days aren't particularly attractive. The Gao brothers' craftsmanship isn't top-notch, but they're knowledgeable and their cabinets are beautiful. "Let's find some time to discuss this with Uncle Fuguo."

“Wood only fetches a few bucks.”

“Selling furniture is different.”

"It's the same with bamboo. It won't sell for much, but if you make it into exquisite bamboo weaving and take it to the city, you might be able to sell it for a lot of money."

Li Feng waited for Gao Zhuo, and the Gao Cheng brothers came back to discuss the matter. "I haven't had many ways to make money lately. The royalties are too slow to come in, and there are regulations on royalties now. No matter how good your writing is, you'll only make a few dozen or a hundred dollars for a book, which is considered good."

At best, I could earn three to five hundred yuan. The problem was, the fee wasn't even paid all at once, so it would probably take quite some time to finish a single copy. "The most crucial task is definitely not easy."

"Ordinary life skills can produce at most one short story."

A few dozen yuan at best. As Li Feng continued to fry the big pot of food, he pondered how to make money. "Don't worry, if this guy brings the production team with him, he'll make money much faster. Then I can make more money and get more old stuff. At the very least, wild game or some swordfish will be fine."

In the afternoon, Li Feng had reached 8/20 in his big pot cooking skill. His knife skills were basically maxed out, and his fire-making skills were maxed out. The next step was to start cooking. Li Feng thought that it would be easy to learn tomorrow, and it should not be difficult to learn how to cook big pot dishes in about three days.

Of course, if Li Feng wants to cook better and make better big pot dishes than Han Furo, he still needs to practice more.

"You're back, how's it going?"

In the evening, Li Muchen and Gao Ju brothers came back, and Li Feng hurried out to greet them.

"not too good."

"There are fewer and fewer prey in the mountains."

The entire hunting team only managed to kill a few dozen kilograms of prey, and the bullets alone consumed more than that. This time, they were at a loss, and they wasted so much effort. "What do you mean?"

"We won't go to the mountains tomorrow."

Gao Jue said, "An Bing said that tomorrow we should go into the mountains to cut trees and bamboo, and sell them for more money than hunting."

"Alas, there's nothing we can do. Every production brigade is hunting. The prey population has already decreased due to the drought, and now with this wave, it's normal that there are no more prey," Li Feng said. "Let's wash up and eat first."

"Wait a minute, I have something to discuss with you. Please help me think about it."

Li Feng said that money-making matters must be discussed with Gao Ju and Gao Cheng, and as for Li Muchen, he could only treat him as a reference. Fortunately, there was still Uncle Wu, who was a great professor and president before his retirement, and he must have a lot of experience.

For dinner, he had rice porridge with corn pancakes, two stir-fried vegetables, and some pickled mustard greens and braised deer meat, making for a meat dish. After dinner, Li Feng greeted Gao Ju, Gao Cheng, Li Muchen, and even called over consultant Wu Zhenhua.

"What is this for?"

Wu Tong nudged Qin Yue and asked, "Why are we having a meeting?"

"I don't know. It's mysterious."

(End of this chapter)