It's unclear how Xu Yunfeng persuaded the others, or whether he made the decision unilaterally and directly agreed to Li Xiangdong's request to choose the second option.
Li Xiangdong never expected that he would not choose the tangible benefits in front of him, but instead take the empty promises he was made.
But this is for the best.
Li Xiangdong currently has no cash on hand, but he promised to wire money to them as soon as they returned to Lijiapo, so they could continue purchasing ginseng and red ginseng, and deliver them to Yanjing once they had 500 jin (250 kg) of ginseng.
He also left Xu Yunfeng the phone numbers for Yanjing and Lijiapo.
As for what happens next, Li Xiangdong invited Xu Yunfeng to Yanjing so they could discuss the details there.
Xu Yunfeng nodded in agreement.
By this time, Luo Yonggang and Bai Yulong had already changed the tire.
Now that they're practically family, Bai Yulong said, half complaining and half joking, "When did you guys do this? Such a long nail, puncturing both the inner and outer tires!"
Da Niu scratched his head a little shyly, "We also put some barbed wire at the entrance to Ant Ridge."
Upon hearing this, Bai Yulong quickly went to check the other tires and found two caltrops on the right rear tire. Fortunately, they weren't deeply embedded and were in relatively off-center places, so he could easily remove them.
The two parties then parted ways.
On the way back, Li Xiangdong, Zhou Hongsong, and He Chaochao sat in the back of the truck, feeling the autumn wind whistling past their faces as the truck bumped along the rugged mountain road.
Zhou Hongsong asked Li Xiangdong, puzzled, "What if they take such a large sum of money and then deny it?"
Li Xiangdong felt like his buttocks were being jostled into eight pieces. He grabbed the carriage with both hands and simply stood up. "That's also possible."
"Then why are you still..."
“I don’t think Xu Yunfeng is such a short-sighted person. Of course, it’s hard to say about the others. But I think they’ll definitely give it a try first and see if they can make money following us…”
Xu Yunfeng and his group of five, carrying guns and knives, walked home.
"Brother, how about we pack up and run away as soon as Li Xiangdong wires the money? Consider it compensation from him!"
Da Niu rolled his eyes and spoke his mind.
"It's more liberating to do it ourselves!"
He added.
Now I'm working for Li Xiangdong, and it feels really awkward.
Xu Yunsong looked disapproving. "Brother Da Niu, let's see how much money we can make working for them first. Anyway, we didn't sign any contracts of servitude. If we don't earn as much working for them as we do on our own, we can just dump them anytime!"
...
He Chaochao also stood up and gripped the railing at the back of the carriage with both hands. "Actually, if we need help with ginseng harvesting in the Northeast, wouldn't it be better to ask Uncle Cui? He knows us well and is a kind person."
Li Xiangdong shook his head. "Uncle Cui is honest, but he's not cut out for business. Xu Yunfeng and his group have already made a name for themselves. It would be too much trouble for us to bring out another group to compete with them."
In addition, it is necessary to cultivate good relationships with both the legitimate and criminal elements in the local area, which cannot be accomplished overnight.
Besides, it takes too much effort.
Therefore, recruiting Xu Yunfeng and others for one's own use is the best option at present.
To grow a business, you can't do everything yourself.
Choosing the right people and placing them in the right positions, and being willing to share substantial profits, has always been Li Xiangdong's secret to doing business.
Luo Yonggang drove Li Xiangdong and the others to the train station, watched them board the train, and then drove a truck full of ginseng and nuts straight to Yanjing City.
...
When Li Xiangdong and his group returned to Lijiapo, it was already August 17th.
I missed the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunion.
Zhao Sufang also saved some homemade mooncakes for the grandfather and his son for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Because they were wrapped in straw paper, the outer skin was still soft, and the filling of brown sugar, melon seeds, and peanuts inside was sweet and fragrant.
Li Jin went to his nephew's house with him. Although the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, he brought back so many good things from Northeast China, which was a good opportunity to give his older sister a belated festival gift.
He Chaochao has been traveling all year round, but she has returned home this time, and the whole family is overjoyed to be together.
Li Jin also received a warm welcome from her sister and brother-in-law. Aunt Li then asked her daughter-in-law to cook a new meal so she could have another family reunion dinner!
Li Xiangdong first put the wild ginseng away, and then took Jasmine and Winter Plum around the village.
In front of the food factory, trucks lined up in a long queue. Inside the workshop, workers in work clothes were busy with their work, loading boxes of canned goods, soda, beverages, instant noodles, and sausages into the trucks.
At the pig breeding base, plump and strong pigs with long snouts, big ears, and round bodies are eating.
At the aquaculture base, once the net is cast, fresh fish and shrimp leap and frolic on the water's surface.
In the golden fields, corn as thick as a child's arm hangs heavily from the stalks.
The watermelons in the field have black skin, white frost, and bright red flesh, each one hidden under the watermelon leaves.
The angelica, astragalus, angelica sinensis, and glehnia littoralis in the Chinese herbal medicine planting base are growing exceptionally well.
If I do the math, today is already the third year since these Chinese medicinal herbs were planted, and many of them have reached their optimal harvest time.
There was also a large area of saline-alkali land behind Li Xiangdong's house, where the red thorn trees were growing well. Li Xiangdong dug a hole where he planted the Cistanche deserticola.
Several yellowish-white, round heads appeared five or six centimeters underground; these were the fully grown Cistanche deserticola.
Cistanche deserticola is harvested in two seasons: spring and autumn.
In spring, Cistanche deserticola grows upwards and slowly emerges from the soil, making it relatively easy to find. However, Cistanche deserticola harvested in spring has a large yield and low price, and after drying, it has a hard texture.
In autumn, the Cistanche deserticola is buried deep underground, making it difficult to harvest. However, at this time, the nutritional value of Cistanche deserticola is at its highest, and it remains soft after drying, allowing it to fetch a good price!
The Cistanche deserticola planted in Lijiapo is growing well, and seeing another large sum of money coming in, Li Xiangdong is in a great mood.
"Second brother, second brother! You're finally back!"
From afar, Li Xiangdong heard someone calling him.
He stood up, squinted, and shaded his eyes with his hand. He saw that it was Li Guoqing, Li Xiangjie, Guo Yuxi, and Zhao Xiaojun calling him.
Winter plum and jasmine were clearly familiar with them, and immediately ran towards them.
A short while later, four people came running over, panting heavily. Their faces were flushed, and they were surrounding Li Xiangdong, breathing heavily.
“We just went to your house to look for you, but the door was locked. We went to Uncle Liu’s house, but we were also turned away!”
"Luckily we ran into Brother Da Ming, who said he saw you coming towards this side of the saline-alkali land, so we quickly circled back."
"Second brother, what's Northeast China like? Is it fun? Can you take us there next time?"
Several people took turns speaking.
Li Xiangdong just smiled and watched them until they finished asking their questions, then said, "I brought you a lot of Northeast specialties! Come on, let's go to my house and talk!"
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