bayedsolid Chapter 60 New Jacket, Old Jacket
Chapter 60 New Jacket, Old Jacket
He wasn't allowed to wear the old clothes, but Li Mu couldn't argue with his mother, so he had to put on the new jacket and leave home with Li Siming.
“Muzi, I don’t know how to tell you this. When you left, you entrusted me with such a big task as delivering the mountain goods, but I…”
While at Li Mu's house, Li Siming hesitated about how to bring it up.
Now you know what to say!
But the words, once on the tip of his tongue, burned his heart with embarrassment.
"Alright! Fourth Master, I already know about this. Chef Jin said he wouldn't buy our mountain products anymore, but when I went there this time, he also said he would buy my mountain products."
"If you all want to bring your mountain produce in the future, I'll deliver it to you personally."
Li Mu's words were simple, but Li Siming knew that things were not as simple as Li Mu made them out to be.
If Li Mu is to deliver all the delicacies from the mountains in the future, then Li Mu will have to bear a higher risk.
So...
Li Siming didn't think about it any further. Given how things had turned out, this was the best way to still make money with everyone.
"There are no problems with the purchasing station either, but Station Chief Zou will definitely not only accept our mountain products and not others."
"Once more people are delivering goods, prices will definitely come down. Even if prices rise later, it will be in line with market conditions, and the prices at the Lakeside Hotel will not be low."
"Furthermore, we need to build a good relationship with the Lakeside Hotel, and the prices offered by the Lakeside Hotel will only be higher than those offered by the purchasing station in the future, not lower."
After Li Mu explained the whole truth, Li Siming was finally relieved.
There was just one more thing he needed to explain to Li Mu.
"I didn't tell the villagers about the poisonous mushrooms. Firstly, I was afraid of dampening their enthusiasm; secondly, I was afraid that no one would dare to deliver the goods anymore, and I was afraid of getting into trouble again."
Li Mu paused slightly, and Li Siming's heart tightened immediately.
"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"
Li Mu shook his head. "That's right! We'll talk about it when we get to Village Chief Tao's house."
To say it was wrong wouldn't be entirely wrong; it's just that it wasn't done comprehensively enough.
But these words couldn't be said to his face; Li Siming needed to see it for himself so that he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Li Mu couldn't accomplish anything alone; he needed helpers who were trustworthy.
Therefore, Li Siming is someone he should befriend.
The two had only been talking for a short while when they arrived at Tao Qingshan's doorstep.
At that moment, they were weighing the items in his yard. Li Mu watched as they took the black fungus and hazel mushrooms that the villagers were supposed to hand in and hung them on the scale to count them. His brows furrowed slightly.
"Fourth Master, are you accepting the goods like this now?" Li Mu turned to look at Li Siming.
The cold tone made Li Siming, who had just calmed down, tense up again: "Yes! It's been snowing these past few days, so I told everyone to go home and pick out what they need. It's just too cold here..."
Hearing this, Li Mu quickly walked up to Li Ganzi, who was weighing his animals, and asked, "Brother Ganzi, how many people have you weighed so far? Do you remember whose animals these are?"
"This is the first batch we've made," Li Ganzi replied with a smile, his hands still moving.
But just as he was about to record the weighed quantity in his notebook, Li Mu stopped him.
"Dear uncles, aunts and grandmas, I, Li Mu, just returned from the county purchasing station yesterday. I don't know which despicable scoundrel mixed all sorts of things into the mountain products supplied to the purchasing station."
"Our village has suffered as a result. Not only has the price of our goods been reduced by 50 cents, but from now on, no matter who submits mountain products, if they don't meet the standards, not only will they all be returned, but we won't accept any goods from anyone else in the village."
"So, everyone, let's do a self-check before delivering the goods. Otherwise, we'll end up with a situation where we can't explain ourselves."
As soon as Li Mu finished speaking, the people waiting for the delivery started talking amongst themselves.
"How can there be such people? This is so immoral!"
"Nephew, we've never done anything so despicable!"
“We work from dawn till dusk, but we always follow the rules very seriously.”
……
The more they talked, the angrier they became, and some even gritted their teeth, wishing they could tear the troublemaker to pieces.
"I know that none of you would do this, but in order to avoid being bullied, I would appreciate your cooperation."
"Starting today, when you are handling goods, first check the goods in the crates, then weigh and pack them."
"Although it's a bit of a hassle, everyone can rest assured. If anything happens, we can all be witnesses to each other's actions, so that no one is wronged."
After saying that, Li Mu turned around and grabbed the sack that was being weighed.
Just then, a middle-aged man suddenly shouted, "Hey, kid from Li Laosan's family, are you trying to fool us?"
"My fourth uncle didn't mention anything about lowering the price, so why are you insisting that the purchasing station lowered the price for us?"
As soon as he said that, people immediately echoed his sentiments.
Many people turned their attention to Li Siming.
Li Siming's face immediately turned red, and he hurriedly replied, "Everyone listens to Li Mu. The fact that the purchasing station is willing to accept our goods is all thanks to Li Mu's connections."
With these words, many people suppressed the doubts that had just been stirred up.
But the middle-aged man persisted, saying, "Even if Mu used connections, we were the ones who did the hard work. Why should he have the final say?"
Upon hearing this, Li Mu was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "That's right. It was everyone's hard work that made the goods work. I, Li Mu, was just talking."
"However, on the other hand, if you still want to deliver goods to the purchasing station through me, Li Mu, you have to follow my rules."
"If you don't want to, you can go to the purchasing station to pay yourself."
After saying that, Li Mu turned to the woman standing at the head of the table who wanted to be weighed, "Sister-in-law Gao, do you want to come here, or do you want to pay yourself?"
The woman who was called Aunt Gao hesitated for a moment, realizing that what the man said made sense. Li Mu had been away for over ten days, yet he still wanted to take a cut every time.
She lost more than two yuan this time.
"I'll pay it myself!" she said, reaching out to pull the bag of hazelnuts she had just weighed back to her.
With this one person willing to pay for it himself, the others followed suit and left with their goods.
As he left, he muttered, "We only came to deliver the goods because of Fourth Master's influence. Why does this Mu brat have to cause trouble as soon as he gets back?"
"Uncle Si didn't say a word. If he took the lead in delivering the goods, we would definitely be happy to do so."
……
Such remarks came one after another.
Li Mu listened to their words without the slightest anger; instead, he seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.