When Li Baotian saw Li Weidong, he treated him with the utmost deference, as if he were seeing a god of wealth.
Li Weidong hadn't even warmed his seat when the sweet egg soup was already on the table.
He was both amused and exasperated: "Uncle, I've already eaten. Tell my aunt not to bother."
"A meal is a meal, and a snack is a snack!"
Li Baotian pushed a bowl full of sweet egg soup in front of Li Weidong and tentatively asked, "Weidong, the good news you just mentioned is..."
"The preliminary work for growing mushrooms has been completed."
Li Weidong got straight to the point: "However, the way we cooperate has been changed."
Li Baotian was overjoyed: "It's all settled! It's all settled! I've been looking forward to this day for so long!"
God knows how excited he was ever since Li Weidong said he could lead the villagers to grow mushrooms!
Moreover, during this period of time, people have been coming to his house to ask when construction can start.
We've been waiting for this day!
"But you said you made changes, what changes?"
"Acquisition price".
Li Weidong explained, "Uncle, you should know the price of mushrooms outside; they're almost a dollar a pound now."
Li Baotian nodded, then quickly added, "I know this price is high, but you definitely can't follow the prices outside; you need to make a profit too!"
"So how much are you planning to charge?"
"The price will remain the same as last year's average."
Li Weidong said, "It's four cents a pound. If someone's mushrooms are of good quality and have a high yield, the company will give them a bonus. If the yield is not good, the company will also provide some subsidies."
"In short, we won't let the villagers suffer any losses."
"Simao..."
Li Baotian started calculating on his fingers.
The village chief's wife, standing nearby, became worried: "Weidong, isn't the price difference a bit too much?"
The price is almost a dollar a pound outside, and he's offering only 40 cents. People aren't stupid, so do they think they'll agree to that?
Li Weidong laughed and said, "Auntie, the prices outside won't always be this high. I'm giving you 40 cents, that's not cheap."
"Besides, we help build the mushroom sheds, the mushroom bags are provided free of charge, the technical guidance is also free, and we even sign a contract. No matter what the price is outside, the price written in the contract is the price, so it's a great deal!"
Li Baotian finally understood and nodded, saying, "Wei Dong is right. With his arrangement, all we need to do is put in the effort. These country folk have plenty of strength and can earn money too. What's there to be unhappy about?"
Although four cents a pound is low, it can still earn you quite a bit. As long as you're willing to work hard, you can save more money in a year than you would from farming.
You might not even earn this much money if you went out to work!
"Then it's settled."
Li Weidong breathed a sigh of relief: "Uncle, please help me spread the word. Anyone who wants to grow mushrooms with me, come to the village committee office first thing tomorrow morning to sign a contract."
"Okay!"
Li Baotian readily agreed, excitedly saying, "That's great! Everyone in our village can grow mushrooms and get rich together. Life will be much better from now on!"
When that time comes, he, as the village chief, will definitely be praised by the higher-ups, and he'll be proud to go out and face everyone!
Li Weidong paused for a moment before remembering the most important thing: "Oh right, I forgot to mention that I only plan to sign up fifty households for this kind of mushroom for now. First come, first served. Once the quota is filled, there won't be any more."
"Only fifty households?!"
Li Baotian jumped up: "Why is it so little? Weidong, you've already said you'd lead everyone to make money together, so leading one person or leading ten is the same thing, isn't it!"
There are over a hundred households in Taohuayu. If only fifty households are brought along, the rest will definitely be unhappy, and it could cause a lot of trouble if they cause a disturbance.
Li Weidong quickly explained, "Uncle, don't worry. These fifty households are just the first batch. You know I only took Hu Zi's family before. I have no experience taking on so many!"
"In this first year, I plan to test this cooperation model first, and then expand the scale when everything is mature."
"Besides, everyone saw that those who followed me in the first year made money, so they were more motivated to work in the future, right?"
Li Baotian then realized what was happening: "You kid, you should have said so earlier!"
"Alright, let's do it your way. I'll spread the word in a bit, and tomorrow you can expect everyone to come to the brigade headquarters office to sign the contract!"
That afternoon, Li Baotian's voice came over the village loudspeaker.
"Attention, fellow villagers! Anyone who wants to grow mushrooms with Wei Dong, come to the village committee office first thing tomorrow morning to sign a contract."
"Limited to the first fifty people only, first come first served. If you don't get a turn, come back next year. Remember that!"
He repeated these words several times, which made the whole village lively.
"Really? We can sign the contract tomorrow?"
"Wei Dong said he'd take us mushroom growing a long time ago, but nothing happened for so long. I thought he was just playing us, but we've finally waited for this day!"
"Fifty households? That's too few! If he's so capable, why doesn't he lead the whole village to make money together?"
"First come, first served. I'll go to the brigade headquarters tonight and wait there. I'll be the first one to sign tomorrow!"
Everyone in the village was talking about it.
Some couldn't wait and went straight to Li Weidong's house, wanting to reserve a spot, but they were all persuaded to go back.
Regardless, the whole village was overjoyed by the news.
Apart from Tiger's family.
"Dad, that little bastard is going to start leading everyone to grow mushrooms again."
Wang Dahua looked at Hu Zi's father, Zhao Weiguo, with a worried expression: "Then what are we going to do this year?"
In previous years, Li Weidong only took his family with him. When the season came, his family didn't even need to ask; Li Weidong would come to their door and help them get things done.
The whole family can just wait to harvest mushrooms and make money.
This year things turned sour; Li Weidong actually wanted to lead the entire village to plant it together.
What about his home?
Zhao Weiguo never interfered in family matters, not even lifting his eyelids: "What do you mean, 'do what'? Just do what needs to be done'!"
"That's why I asked you!"
Wang Dahua got angry: "After our family fell out with that little bastard, we lost a lot of money. This year, should we continue to do it ourselves, or go back to him for help? We have to make a decision, right?"
To be honest, she hated Li Weidong to the core and didn't want to go to him at all. If she did, wouldn't that be lowering her head?
But if I don't look for help, I've lost a lot of money growing mushrooms all this time, and I really can't afford to lose any more!
Zhao Weiguo rolled his eyes: "Go ahead and look for it if you want, I'm not going!"
"You're not allowed to go!"
Tiger said angrily, "Mom, if you go to him, what will that make us?"
Wang Dahua said angrily, "Isn't that all because of you? Have you even calculated how much money we lost on these mushrooms this year?"
Tiger was immediately embarrassed, but he still insisted on not going: "Paying money is just bad luck. Can a person always be unlucky?"
"I refuse to believe that if Li Weidong can do it, I can't!"
He gritted his teeth and said, "Anyway, we'll grow this batch of mushrooms ourselves. Don't go looking for him."
Despite saying that, he still left home very early the next morning.
I went to the brigade headquarters office.
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