Chapter 186 Deciding to Trade Cotton and Timber

After hearing this, Xia Juanjuan guessed that the two factories might be short of raw materials, and they had to ask the countryside to find a way to provide the raw materials.

Secretary Zhao didn't say anything more clearly, but just told them to drive the cattle slowly on the road, so as not to startle the cattle and cause the cart to overturn and injure people.

After saying that, he rode his bike back.

The next day, Xia Juanjuan went to the commune on the pretext of something and asked Secretary Zhao about it in a roundabout way.

Secretary Zhao also admired Xia Juanjuan's way of dealing with people, so he briefly talked about it.

As expected, the lumber mill is running out of raw materials and can’t even maintain half-work now. It’s on the verge of stopping production completely.

The county asked the villages and towns to send people to cut down the wood on the barren hills during the farming season to solve the urgent problem. It was not completely free, but the money given for buying wood was not much, and it was estimated that it was not enough to share the work!

Then there is the matter of cotton.

Once the snow melts in spring, wood from the northeast will be able to come in.

The cotton shortage was not so easy to resolve, so the county proposed a suggestion: when the communes were planting crops, they should plant more cotton while ensuring grain production, and then the textile mills would purchase the cotton at a price slightly higher than in previous years.

However, the county dare not make a final decision on this matter. It still depends on the opinions of each commune. After all, what is most lacking now is food. If all the land is used to grow cotton, won't there be famine?

Xia Juanjuan couldn't help frowning: "Secretary Zhao, I'm a woman, so my words may not be right. But let's not talk about other things. The barren mountain behind us has supported so many people when there is not enough food and when there is a shortage of crops. If we cut down all the trees, how will the wild rabbits, pheasants, wild boars and the like survive? In the future, we will have to guard a barren mountain. When there is really no food, we won't be able to dig up wild vegetables. Moreover, without trees, if it rains heavily, the rocks and soil on the mountain will slide down, and our village will suffer. And there is also the matter of cotton. If there is not enough food, will everyone use the money from selling cotton to buy food?"

Secretary Zhao sighed, "Alas! Who says it's not true? You are young and have not experienced it. As early as thirty years ago, in a village not far from here, every household in the village rushed to cut down the trees on the mountain in the cold winter, and brought them back to burn themselves or carried them to the city to sell. As a result, when heavy rain came in the summer, there was a landslide, didn't it? Half of the village was buried. We from other villages went there to help rescue people, and we saw the tragic scene. I will never forget it in my life! Cotton can be sold for money, but in the years of famine, no matter how much money you have, you can't buy food..."

Xia Juanjuan thought for a moment and said, "Secretary Zhao, I know this is not what I should say. Why don't we wait two or three days before telling everyone in the commune about the logging? Let's see what other communes are doing. Besides, the weather is getting warmer now, maybe the wood trapped on the road by the heavy snow can be brought in."

Secretary Zhao nodded and said, "I think so too. Let's put it off for a few days. If we can't put it off any longer, we can do it later."

Early the next morning, Xia Juanjuan fed the three cubs and squeezed some milk into three small bottles, asking Lin Yuru to soak them in hot water to keep them warm. She waited for the three cubs to eat when they were hungry, and then she went into the mountains carrying the backpack.

She first released a few wild rabbits, pheasants, wild boars and other animals in the space.

There are only two wild boars, and a few more rabbits and pheasants, about ten of each, so we can't release too many.

If anyone who enters the mountains can be easily caught, then wouldn't the villagers go into the mountains to catch them every day? That would be counterproductive.

After releasing the wild animals, Xia Juanjuan went directly to the county through the space.

As for the cotton and timber business, she had actually been hesitant about whether to do it because the risk was too great.

The black market for food, eggs, meat, and a small amount of cotton was just a small business, and many old women from the countryside who had never seen the world went there. If they were caught, at most they would be given a few words of advice and their supplies and money would be confiscated.

But for large quantities of cotton and timber, they are directly purchased from factories by middlemen, who usually buy them from other cheaper places and then transport them to places where the purchase price is higher to sell them. This is real speculation!

If he were caught, there would be no way he would not be sentenced to ten or eight years of hard labor!

And even though you are unwilling to do this, in this era, you have to find a man to take the lead, otherwise people won't even believe you.

She is a rural woman. Even if there is space, if she rashly tries to get in, she might not only fail to earn money, but become cannon fodder instead!

Therefore, Xia Juanjuan remained cautious and did not take any action.

But now, the situation may affect the village, so we have to give it a try even if there are risks.

At worst, if there is danger, she can just hide in the space! She won't be caught!

Xia Juanjuan plans to use cotton as a breakthrough point.

Timber logs are large and heavy. Even if there is a black market transaction, it cannot be carried out in the city. It must be traded directly in the forest or in the wilderness.

She had no access to it.

But cotton is different. Cotton is also sold on the black market for food supplies. Although the sales volume is not as much as that of cotton stations, there are still second-hand dealers who come to buy it in small quantities.

For example, in the current situation where textile factories are short of cotton, I am afraid that all the cotton stations nearby have been sold out, and the probability of those people buying it in small quantities on the black market is much higher.

Xia Juanjuan had been hanging around the black market from time to time in the past few days, and had basically locked onto two people who specialized in collecting cotton. Their bids were obviously much higher than those of people who bought cotton for their own use, so for several consecutive days, they had bought up almost all the cotton on the black market.

This time, Xia Juanjuan painted her face dark, drew a lot of wrinkles on the corners of her eyes and forehead, wore a cotton jacket with embroidered slanting collar, and a green headscarf, looking as rustic as could be.

In addition, Xia Juanjuan deliberately spoke in a hoarse voice and swore in her heart that she would never wear disguises again this time.

After confirming it again, she walked towards the two people picking cotton.

Both of them were wearing worn-out Zhongshan suits and Liberation caps with the brims pulled down, so their faces could not be seen clearly.

Xia Juanjuan didn't beat around the bush and asked directly in a low voice: "Comrade, I heard that you get paid a lot for collecting cotton?"

The two looked Xia Juanjuan up and down, then nodded and said, "How much do you have? We charge one yuan and four pounds."

Xia Juanjuan quickly calculated in her mind. The purchase price of cotton in recent years is 1,800 catties per ton, which is 90 cents per catty, almost the same as the price of meat. The general price on the black market is 1.2 yuan. However, now that the county textile mills are short of cotton, if they sell it privately to the textile mills, they can at least reach a price of 2 yuan per catty.

One dollar and four cents is not a small amount. After all, they are the ones who bear the bulk of the risk.

Xia Juanjuan nodded, indicating that she was satisfied with the price. However, for the sake of the subsequent transaction, she still needed to shock the other party as soon as she opened her mouth.

Therefore, she lowered her voice and said, "I weigh... about 1,000 kilograms."

They were both shocked when they heard this!

It's not like they haven't seen the world before. This year's cotton shortage is not limited to the textile mill in Mo County. The problem is the same in several surrounding counties. If you go to the cotton station, you'll find that even 200 kilograms of cotton may not be available!

Otherwise, they would not have gone to this kind of small black market to buy cotton from farmers or individual city residents.

After carefully looking at Xia Juanjuan again, both of them were a little unconvinced: "Auntie, if you have nothing to do, go somewhere else. We are busy here."