My 1978 Hotel

"Dong Qing, Wu Yu, you two hold on for now, I'm going to go and finalize the bills."

Chengcheng was quite proud of herself for studying finance and obtaining an accounting certificate; now that she was here, it was proving useful. "Six cents a day, easy peasy."

"Keep showing off. Once our furniture is finished, then... hehe."

Dong Qing was unconvinced, but she was actually a little envious. Similarly, Wu Yu felt like he had failed miserably. What a joke! Without some equipment, he couldn't even get his hands on seeds or anything like that. He was not as good as Dong Qing.

"Haha, then I'll wait for you to finish designing the furniture as soon as possible, so I can make more trips with you. You can make your money, and I'll make mine." After Chengcheng said this, Dong Qing and Wu Yu didn't want to talk to her anymore.

This guy is getting arrogant. He's a finance major, and now he's just doing the math while delivering furniture. All he's doing is calculating how many cars and how much money is involved. This is something even a three-year student could do.

You'd better leave quickly.

Dong Qing didn't want to see Cheng Cheng's smug look, so she waved her hand to shoo her away.

"I'll head over now, good luck to you guys."

Chengcheng had to pull the stones harder, laughing as she ran off to find Han Futian to help her settle the accounts.

"No, we have to think of something."

Wu Yu said, "We can earn some money a day by hauling stones."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Dong Qing was also starting to lose interest. She was working herself to the bone, but she couldn't even earn two cents a day. What was the point of continuing?

"How about we go into the mountains?"

Wu Yu said, “This area should also be in southern Anhui. There should be kudzu roots in the mountains. Let’s go dig some up and make some kudzu root powder. If we’re lucky, we might dig up a few big ones and we’ll be rich.”

"Can we dig it up?"

Dong Qing was a little uncertain. "I heard from Boss Li that the team members have been into the mountains many times, and they've dug up things like Solomon's Seal countless times."

"Some will always fall behind."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yu also felt a little unsure. "Let's go up the mountain and dig first. Maybe we'll find some orchid seedlings or nanmu trees. That would be great. We can get one, and Boss Li won't have to pay for it."

"OK then."

Upon hearing this, Dong Qing was tempted. No matter what, it was better than hauling stones, right? Li Feng, however, had no idea that Dong Qing and Wu Yu, spurred on by Cheng Cheng, were actually planning to go into the mountains to dig for kudzu. Otherwise, he would have definitely told them to forget about kudzu, at least not in the surrounding areas.

There's no food. How could this stuff possibly stay? Nobody's stupid. They dug up all the kudzu roots.

He didn't have time to worry about Dong Qing and the others right now. Where to put the stones was a problem, since there were about ten roads. He had originally planned to pile them up in several places first, but after discussing it, he realized that wouldn't work, as it would take a lot of effort to repair the roads later.

"What did Uncle Fu Guo say?"

Li Feng asked An Bing.

"Place them along the road, don't dump them in one pile."

"That's it."

"We can't dump them all in one pile. That way, we don't have to worry about the stones piling up together," Li Feng breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't thought this through at first and almost made a mistake. "By the way, Da asked you to come with me to take a look, just in case someone has mixed in some unusable stones."

"Okay, let's go."

Unexpectedly, transporting just a stone involved so much work. Li Feng and An Bing had to go and check it out. If it was mixed with too many fragments and stones, the effect of repairing the road would be diminished. Larger stones would be safer from being washed away.

"This is too messy."

Li Feng muttered to himself, "Why didn't I just fill in that big pothole?"

"Everyone's thinking about hauling more stones, no one's interested in doing this."

As Han Anbing filled the large pit with large stones, he said, "This is already quite good. Look, at least some stones have been put into the pit."

"Actually, this is also beneficial for them."

Li Feng pointed to the large ditch and said, "Even if we fill it in, it will be difficult for their cars to pass through."

"That's what they say."

Han Anbing nodded, but not everyone was willing to waste their time doing this; after all, everyone was thinking about hauling more stones and making more money. "Tell them later that whoever fills the largest load can get a bonus."

"That might be a bit difficult."

Han Anbing said, “It’s not difficult to record who hauled how many truckloads, but it’s difficult to record who filled how many pits, unless we send more people to keep an eye on things.”

"That's it."

This involved a considerable amount of manpower, but fortunately, most of the large potholes were filled, and the smaller ones would be filled during road repairs. Along the way, Li Feng and Han Anbing inspected the trucks and found that about one in a hundred trucks had some kind of problem with the stones.

"It's alright, no major problems."

Two or three percent failed, which Li Feng thought was pretty good; these team leaders seemed to be quite particular. "Alright, no need to look at the rest."

"Let's go back and eat first."

Li Feng and Han Anmin were busy all morning, examining the stones and filling in the potholes. They were exhausted and covered in dirt, though Han Anbing fared a little better. Li Feng felt somewhat unwell, so when he got home, he washed his hair and dried himself off.

I don't want to take a bath anymore, it uses too much water. The well water has decreased a lot, and everyone is now conserving water. Li Feng's family is starting to use more water, and Han Wangshi's family has been gossiping about it behind their backs.

What should we eat for lunch?

Li Feng didn't know what decent prey Wu Tong and his group could bring back. The prey in the mountains had been hunted several times before, and with the drought, there wasn't much food left in the mountains. He didn't know how many animals had starved or died of thirst.

"Playing PUBG?"

Well, we've eaten quite a bit these past few days. Li Feng plans to stew some loach with dried green beans, fry some eggs, and make some multigrain pancakes. That should be about it. This kind of food is considered top-notch in Hanjiaba. He'll wait until the food is almost ready.

Wu Tong and his group returned excitedly. As soon as they entered, Wu Tong shouted, "Cousin, come out and see what good stuff we've found!"

"Did you hit something?"

Li Feng was genuinely surprised and went outside to take a look. "I actually hit it! What is this?"

"A turtle."

Li Feng was a little confused. Wait, weren't you guys supposed to be hunting? How come you brought back a few turtles? "They're not small, are they?"

"good."

"These two big ones probably weigh more than two pounds, and this small one weighs more than one pound."

"anything else."

Wu Tong pulled out a few small turtles, and Li Feng chuckled. "So you've raided someone's house?"

"Hahaha, that's about right."

"Wait until Wu Yu comes back and ask him what kind of turtle it is."

"Even turtles can't stand the dry weather these days and they've crawled out," Li Feng muttered. "Let's wash up and eat first, then we'll deal with them later." The turtles' taste was so-so. He'd see if they were any good breeds; if they were, he'd take them home to keep as pets.

Dong Qing and Wu Yu searched around and found two small kudzu roots. After digging for a long time, they found that they weighed less than two pounds in total. They were very frustrated because they knew that this stuff would be useless for making kudzu root powder.

"Wu Yu, come back here! Come quickly and take a look. What breed are these turtles?"

Upon seeing Dong Qing and Wu Yu return, Tian Hao immediately called them over.

"turtle?"

Wu Yu muttered to himself, "How would they know? But it shouldn't be hard to tell the difference between common turtles." "Hey, this is a yellow-margined box turtle."

"How much is this variety?"

“Wild animals are protected. With so many, a year and a half should be enough.” Wu Yu glanced at the number of turtles and gestured.

"Goodness, we still have to go inside?" Li Feng chuckled. "Then the price probably won't be cheap."

“Farmed turtles are not much different from ordinary turtles, ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan. Wild turtles are more expensive, mainly because they cannot be bought or sold,” Wu Yu said with a smile. “I remember someone online bought two small, wild ones for more than two thousand yuan and was sentenced to five months in prison.”

"This turtle is quite a tortoise."

Li Feng said with a smile.

“And what about the taste?”

Wu Yu was a little taken aback by Tian Hao's question. "Hey buddy, why are you asking?" he thought. "I've never eaten it, I don't know."

"But turtles probably all taste pretty much the same, right?"

"Oh."

Upon hearing that they all tasted similar, Tian Hao lost interest, since he didn't particularly like eating turtles.

"Then I'll give this turtle to you, cousin."

When presented with a turtle, Li Feng was at a loss for words. "Then let's keep it for now."

Back on the mountain land he had contracted, Li Feng didn't think much about the taste of the turtles.

"Mr. Li, are you planning to raise this?"

"I guess so. We'll keep them for now. There's no such thing as protected animals here."

Li Feng laughed and said, "What, you want to raise them? Then you can choose two small ones to raise later."

"Need not."

"Just kidding. It's fine to keep it now, but if you keep this thing back in modern times, someone will report it, and you'll end up working for the government." Wu Yu didn't like the taste of government food and refused outright.

"Hehe, wash your hands and eat."

After lunch, Li Feng first went to the commune to see Daya off, and then stopped by the post office to pick up letters from readers.

"Sample book?"

Li Feng was genuinely surprised by how quickly this had happened. This was his first published book—not just one featured in a magazine, but a fully published book. "It's published?"

"Congratulations, Comrade Li Feng."

Huang Xiaoli published a book with envy and admiration, something she never dared to dream of in her life. Back then, publishing houses weren't as good as they were in later years, selling books just to survive, and they'd publish a book for 30,000 to 50,000 yuan.

"Thank you."

Li Feng smiled and handed a book to Huang Xiaoli. "Comrade Huang Xiaoli, if you don't mind, please take a look."

"Really, thank you so much."

Huang Xiaoli was pleasantly surprised, not expecting Li Feng to be so generous.

"Could you sign this for me?" Huang Xiaoli was a little embarrassed; she was asking for an autograph after receiving a book as a gift.

"Of course, it's just that my handwriting is average."

Li Feng humbly accepted the pen, wrote his name on it, and then handed the book back to Huang Xiaoli, who thanked him again. "You're too kind, Comrade Xiaoli. I'll head back now. You're busy."

"Take care."

After leaving the post office, Li Feng thought for a moment and then went to the commune compound to pick up two books before heading to the secretary's office. "Secretary Gao."

"Comrade Li Feng, please come in."

Gao Ming quickly stood up and invited Li Feng to sit down, then poured him some tea.

"Secretary Gao, don't be so polite. I've come here to deliver two books."

Li Feng said with a smile, "The book has been published, and the publisher sent me a few sample copies."

"It's published! Congratulations!"

Gao Ming was somewhat surprised. Publishing and publishing are different things. He took the book from Li Feng and glanced at the name: Xu Mao and His Daughters. He didn't know what it was about, but it was already quite impressive that it could be published.

Unexpectedly, Li Feng published a book so quickly. Not only him, but Wu Feng was also surprised. He knew that Li Feng had recently published a lot of articles, and even published them in several well-known journals. He just didn't expect that Li Feng would publish an independent book so quickly.

Taking the sample book, Wu Feng sighed with emotion. This kid has finally made it big. With this book, getting involved at the regional or even provincial level won't be difficult. "That's great, Li Feng. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to contact me and Secretary Gao anytime. Don't be shy."

"Uncle Wu, others may be polite, but I won't be polite with you."

"Okay, you shouldn't be so polite."

The two chatted for a while, and inevitably the topic of Han Anjun came up. Of course, Wu Feng was very concerned about the road construction, so he inquired about the transportation of stones, wages, and progress. Li Feng told him everything without holding anything back.

"The progress is quite fast."

Wu Feng said with a smile, "This road really needs to be repaired. An Jun has mentioned it to me several times, and this time it's finally possible. As for the commune, I'll discuss it with Secretary Gao. The commune may not be able to provide much financial support, but we can still provide some oil coupons, cement coupons, and brick coupons."

"That's great."

Neither Li Feng nor Han Fuguo expected the commune to provide any financial assistance. The commune was severely short of money, and with such a serious drought, it was already a favor that the commune wasn't lending them any money.

“In a few days, Secretary Gao and I will visit your Hanjiaba. Your furniture factory is doing quite well. The county leaders mentioned it at the meeting the day before yesterday.”

"Oh, the county leaders mentioned our furniture factory?"

Li Feng was somewhat surprised. Why hadn't the county furniture factory made any move? That was strange. The county furniture factory was acting too nonchalantly. The county leaders had even mentioned it, so the county furniture factory must know 100% about the situation at Hanjiaba Furniture Factory.

"Yes, some of the young cadres in the county also really like the furniture produced by your Hanjiaba Furniture Factory."

Wu Feng said with a smile, "The furniture is beautiful, of good quality, and not expensive."

Good quality and cheap, Li Feng thought about it and agreed. It was a set for just over 260 yuan, which was definitely cheaper than other places. As for how good it looked, it was definitely better, with a design that was far ahead of its time.

"After all, we produce our own batch, so our costs are lower."

That's true. The wages are low, and the price of timber is also much lower than in furniture factories in the city. Combining these factors, the price is relatively cheaper. However, Li Feng's focus isn't on that right now; he's more worried about the situation at the county furniture factory.

Back home, Li Feng carried the sample book to Han Fu's house.

"An Jun, Comrade Xiao Feng."

Li Feng said with a smile, "The book I mentioned last time has been published. I'll give you two copies to take a look." Unlike the magazine sample copies at the wedding, this one was independently published.

"so fast."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that either."

Li Fengshu handed it to the two of them and asked with a smile, "Is Uncle Fuguo home?"

"out."

Han Anjun handed the book to Wu Xiaofeng. "Uncle Futian just came looking for me. Go to the team. Captain Wang from Wangjiazhuang and Captain Li from Lijiazhai came over and said they had something to ask me."

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with these two captains?"

"Sigh, they say the two teams got into a fight while hauling stones."

When Li Feng heard this, he thought, "Wow, they can even fight over a rock." He thought, "Really, it's just a rock, what's the big deal?"

"Is everything alright?"

"No, it wasn't serious."

"That's good."

It wasn't serious. A fight wasn't a big deal these days, so Li Feng wasn't too worried. At least it wasn't as worrisome as the county furniture factory. (End of Chapter)