"This is really serious!"

Uncle Da Gui, panting heavily, rushed into the village from the east end, shouting, "Mushrooms are cheaper in the city!"

"Mushrooms at all the stalls are 60 cents a pound!"

At midday, with no work to be done in the fields, everyone usually gathers under the old tree at the village entrance to play cards and chat.

Upon hearing his words, an uproar immediately erupted.

"What did you say, Da Gui?!"

Some people stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Mushrooms have gone down in price? How is that possible? I went to the market the other day, and they were still over a dollar a pound!"

Everyone else looked shocked, as if they had just heard a ghost story.

If mushroom prices really drop, what will happen to the mushrooms they grow?!

Will it also lower its price?

In an instant, many people's expressions changed.

After all, we've worked hard for months, with the whole family taking care of the mushrooms in the greenhouse. We haven't even had time to look after the crops. All we're hoping to do is sell the mushrooms and make some money during the Chinese New Year!

But now things have taken an unexpected turn...

Someone couldn't help but get angry and said, "Da Gui, you're kidding us, right? This is no joke!"

"Exactly, we're about to harvest the mushrooms, and you're trying to scare us like this. You deserve a beating, don't you?"

Uncle Da Gui, panting heavily, said, "Why would I lie to you? I went to the market today, and I figured the mushrooms would be ready for harvest soon, so I asked about the prices outside. I'm happy about it."

"I asked several shop owners, and they all said 60 cents. They even said that anyone who dared to sell at a higher price would be arrested and jailed!"

Then, she pursed her lips and said, "If you don't believe me, go ask them yourselves!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone else returned to the village.

Uncle Da Gui quickly pulled the man aside: "You went to the market today too? Have the mushrooms at the market gone down in price?"

The man didn't grow mushrooms at home. Hearing this, he paused for a moment before nodding and saying, "Yes, mushrooms are sold everywhere at the market, so the price has to come down!"

At this point, he glanced at everyone and said, "You've grown so many mushrooms, and now that the price has dropped, it's questionable whether you'll be able to sell them!"

As he spoke, there was a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.

After all, his family hadn't planned to grow mushrooms before; they just wanted to observe and see how well everyone else's mushrooms were growing, and they were quite envious and regretful.

Now look what's happened! Mushrooms have dropped in price, and it's not even certain they can be sold. How can we not gloat?

Everyone panicked.

"The price has really dropped?"

How could this happen?

"Why did it suddenly drop so drastically? What should we do?"

"Six cents a pound, but we only signed a contract for four cents for our mushrooms. Given this, will Weidong still be willing to buy our mushrooms at the agreed price?"

These words instantly silenced everyone, who looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a long silence, someone tentatively spoke up: "Wei Dong signed a contract with us before, so... he should accept it, right?"

The word "contract" reassured many people.

Just then, someone suddenly spoke up: "Even if the price of mushrooms has dropped in the market, Wei Dong only charges us 40 cents a pound. We can still make a profit by reselling them. With so many of us, we can make quite a bit of money."

"But what about Tiger's side?"

"Tiger said he would buy them for six cents a pound. Mushrooms on the market only cost six cents. If he bought them and resold them, he wouldn't make a single cent. He would even have to pay for his labor."

At this point, he looked at a farmer in the crowd who was growing mushrooms with Hu Zi: "De Gui, your family followed Hu Zi. Now that such a big thing has happened, aren't you going to inquire about it?"

De Gui's face was deathly pale, but he still forced a smile and said, "No way... How can we go back on our promise?"

A farmer who was also following Hu Zi said, "Yes, yes, we're all from the same village. When he asked us to grow mushrooms with him, he promised to buy them for six cents a pound."

"Even if the price of mushrooms has dropped, he... can't go back on his word and play us for fools, can he?"

Although he said that, he couldn't hide the tension on his face. He glanced at the sky and hurriedly said, "I have soup cooking at home, I'll go back and check!"

De Gui added, "I still have to work in the fields. You all talk, I'll go back first."

The two left in a hurry after they finished speaking.

They said they were going home, but the direction they were heading was clearly towards Tiger's house.

The others knew perfectly well what was going on, but they weren't in the mood to make fun of it.

After all, Tiger might not be trustworthy, and isn't Li Weidong the same?

If Li Weidong also lowers the acquisition price, then none of us will have an easy time!

"or……"

Someone tentatively suggested, "Shall we go ask Wei Dong?"

At this, everyone perked up and headed straight for Li Weidong's house.

No matter how you analyze it, even if a contract was indeed signed, the fact remains that mushroom prices have dropped, and by half.

Who wouldn't panic in that situation?

...

When everyone arrived, Li Weidong was on the phone with Zhang Bin!

The mushrooms are ready to be harvested. Zhang Bin's area has twice as many farmers as Taohuayu, so the workload is naturally much greater.

From harvesting to packaging, transportation, and even sales channels, everything needs to be carefully planned.

Although Zhang Bin had grown mushrooms before, this was the first time he had done it on such a large scale. He didn't understand many things and didn't have time to come over, so they could only talk on the phone.

Li Weidong was speaking enthusiastically when he was suddenly startled to see a large group of people rushing in.

What are you doing?

Zhao Xiulian panicked: "Why did everyone come here?"

Are they here to cause trouble?

We're about to harvest these mushrooms, so we really hope nothing goes wrong at this crucial moment!

The one leading the group was Uncle Fujun, who lived on the west side of the village.

He asked nervously, "Young lady, these mushrooms are almost ready to be harvested, but the price of mushrooms outside has dropped. So... how do we calculate the purchase price for Weidong?"

Zhao Xiulian was unaware of the situation and frowned upon hearing this: "Price reduction? Why the sudden price reduction? How much?"

Zhang Bin, who was on the phone, also heard this and was dumbfounded: "Wei Dong, the price of mushrooms has dropped? I've been staying in the greenhouse all day and haven't gone out to ask."

Li Weidong remained calm: "It's alright, let it drop, it won't affect us."

Anyway, he had already taken this into account when he set the price. Even if the price is reduced, he won't lose money after deducting labor costs.

You might even make a profit.

Zhang Bin asked nervously, "Aren't you worried?"

Li Weidong laughed: "What's there to worry about? I already said it when I set the price, don't worry, it's not a big deal."

Then he added, "Alright, everyone's here now. I'll call you back later. I'll talk to you later."

"The farmers over there should receive the news soon. Tell them not to panic, our purchase price is..."

He deliberately raised his voice: "Once a contract is signed, no matter how much it sells for outside, the purchase price is exactly what's written in our contract!"

"It will never change!"