"Come on, let's find the captain together. I'll tell you as we walk."

He Wan led Li Weidong across the bridge toward the captain's house, and the scene of the two chatting and laughing was seen by Chen Qing who came out.

She frowned as she watched their backs, then turned around and saw Su Ranran and Zhang Cuicao passing by her. A few glints of light appeared in her thoughtful eyes.

Although she disdained getting too close to these people, she disliked even more the way everyone fawned over He Wan.

...

"Captain, we can collect the villagers' dried vegetables and add five cents to the purchase price per pound, or we can give them work points for picking dried vegetables in the mountains. Individual buying and selling is not allowed."

Originally, the commune did not allow individuals to buy and sell goods.

But in order to generate income for the village and for individuals, we can make it collective. Comrade Li worked very hard and put in a lot of effort to reach this agreement.

The price of dried vegetables in the city is still quite good. Every household in our village has stored a lot, so there's no cost involved, and we can sell about a thousand or two thousand kilograms a year. Wild vegetables cost two or three mao (0.2-0.3 yuan), shiitake mushrooms cost five mao (0.5 yuan), and wood ear mushrooms are even more expensive.

When the team leader heard He Wan's calculations, he realized it was quite a lot of money. It wasn't much now, but by autumn, every household would have a lot of dried vegetables, and buying them would increase their income.

“I’ll discuss this with the Party Secretary and the accountant. Once we’ve reached an agreement, I’ll have Weidong make a trip to the city.”

Upon hearing this, Li Weidong grinned happily: "Uncle, if this deal goes through, can you give me a dollar and a ticket?"

"Yes, I can give it to you."

"Xiao He, thank you. I'll definitely treat you to a meal once I get the money."

"Forget about meals, you should focus on helping the village attract business, that's the important thing."

"Business is hard to come by, mainly because there's not much to sell in our village."

"Of course we have tofu, dried vegetables, fish, peach saplings, and pear saplings."

"Fruit tree seedlings can be sold too?"

"Why not? Some places need to plant trees."

In villages and some public areas in the county, greening is needed. Even the small saplings that are always green on our mountain can be used for greening.

There's a farm next door, isn't there? Farms have tree seedling salespeople.

"The farm has them, but does anyone want our wild fruit trees?"

"How will you know nobody wants them if you don't try? Look at our orchard, the peaches and pear trees are growing quite well, aren't they? We can start seedlings in the spring."

Li Weidong scratched his head awkwardly: "I dare not, and I don't know many characters, so I'm not very good at accounting."

“Learn from Li Guai, the accountant. He can read and do accounting.”

"Uncle Li doesn't like me."

"Just tell him you're doing this to bring business to the villagers. He must have seen the changes you've made recently."

“What am I changing? I’m only doing this for that one yuan. Otherwise, who would go out in this sweltering heat? I’m even thinking of saving up to buy a bicycle. After all, I’m the leader in the village, and I can’t let my brothers look down on me. I have to start something first.”

He Wan nodded in agreement. These angry young people could be guided back on the right track with a little guidance.

See, it's working!

Making money? Haha, who comes into this world without needing money?

Money gives you motivation. Keep it up, young people!

Although she wasn't the one earning the money, she was happy to see those former hooligans find something to do.

He happily carried his bamboo basket up the mountain.

Back at the educated youth settlement that evening, He Wan told everyone while practicing songs that the village might be buying dried goods.

So that when they have free time, they can stock up on some and sell it to the village.

Zhang Deping said, "What free time do I have? I work during the day and practice singing at night. I only have free time at noon, and I want to take a nap at noon."

Xue Zhenzhen said, "Do you want to sleep or make money?"

"...Of course, I want to make money."

Su Ranran said, "I still have some dried goods I picked last year, not much. I'll sell as much as I can."

"I have one too."