12dz Chapter 508 Stolen
Chapter 508 Stolen
Looking at the goods he had just received, and despite being tired after a long day, Li Xiangyang felt energized again as he thought about how the purchasing station's business was booming.
“This fox pelt is of good quality,” he said, crouching down to examine it closely. “It should fetch a good price.”
Wang Ergou chimed in, "That's right, Old Sun brought it over, saying it's from the eastern hillside. By the way, Zhao Xiuying's mother's surgery went smoothly, and she'll be discharged in a couple of days."
"That's great," Li Xiangyang stood up. "I'll pick them up then."
After all the goods were properly arranged, the group locked the door and went home.
As night deepened, Li Xiangyang pushed open the door to his home, where Li Xiaoyun was mending her son's clothes under the lamp.
"You're back?" She looked up and said, "The food's warming up in the pot."
"Hmm," Li Xiangyang walked over and patted his son's head, "Is Wangchen asleep?"
"He just fell asleep. He was out having fun all day and he's exhausted." Li Xiaoyun put down her needlework and got up to serve him rice.
Li Xiangyang washed his face and sat down at the table. Steaming hot food was served, including stewed tofu, stir-fried cabbage, and a plate of salted duck eggs.
"How many villages did you visit today?" Li Xiaoyun asked, sitting across from him as she watched him eat.
"Five or six," Li Xiangyang said, picking up a piece of food. "Most of them have expressed interest in cooperation, but the distance is far, and transportation is a problem."
"Take it slow, don't take too big a step," Li Xiaoyun said worriedly. "I'm always worried about you driving around all by yourself."
Li Xiangyang laughed: "What's there to worry about? It's not like it's my first time driving on mountain roads."
As they were talking, a series of urgent knocks came from the courtyard.
"Who could it be so late?" Li Xiaoyun frowned.
Li Xiangyang put down his chopsticks, walked to the courtyard gate, and asked, "Who is it?"
"Brother Xiangyang, it's me, Zhang Weiping!" an anxious voice came from outside. "Something's happened! Go to the purchasing station quickly!"
Li Xiangyang's heart tightened, and he quickly opened the door: "What's wrong?"
Zhang Weiping, panting, said, "I just passed by the purchasing station and found the door had been pried open, and it seems like a lot of things are missing!"
"What?" Li Xiangyang's expression changed, and he turned to Li Xiaoyun, saying, "You stay home, I'll go check on things."
After saying that, he grabbed the flashlight and ran outside.
When they arrived at the purchasing station, sure enough, the lock on the gate had been pried open and was ajar.
Li Xiangyang pushed open the door and shone his flashlight inside, only to find the place in complete disarray.
The goods that were originally neatly arranged were now overturned and scattered on the ground, with many medicinal herbs lying around.
Li Xiangyang suppressed his anger and carefully examined the damage.
Several fox pelts are missing, and some high-quality medicinal herbs have also been taken. A rough estimate puts the loss at over two hundred yuan.
Apart from the dusty windowsill, and the pried-open door lock and the mess on the floor, there were no other useful traces to be found.
"Should we report it to the authorities?" Zhang Weiping asked.
"Fine, I guess I'll just have to accept it. I'll change the locks first, and tomorrow I'll go to town to buy some security grilles."
Li Xiangyang knew that if they waited until dawn to look for clues in this desolate wilderness, it would be too late.
But once is never enough. He clenched his fist and secretly vowed to learn a lesson this time and to be more vigilant in the future.
After changing the locks and returning home, Li Xiangyang briefly told Li Xiaoyun about it and went to sleep feeling depressed.
The next morning, Li Xiangyang had just gotten up when he heard voices coming from the yard.
He pushed open the door and saw that it was Liu Xiaocui, the girl he had met on the road yesterday, standing in the yard waiting for him.
"Miss Liu, why are you here so early?" Li Xiangyang asked, somewhat surprised.
Liu Xiaocui said somewhat shyly, "Brother Li, I told Grandpa about the purchasing station last night, and he was very happy. We got up before dawn to sort the herbs, but no one was at the purchasing station, so we asked around and came here."
As she spoke, she pointed to the oxcart outside the door: "I brought a lot of herbs with me."
When Li Xiangyang went outside, he saw that the car was fully loaded with all kinds of herbs.
"So many?" Li Xiangyang was taken aback.
“Grandpa said he wanted to make a good impression on you,” Liu Xiaocui said shyly. “These were all picked by my grandson and me recently, and they’re all of good quality.”
Li Xiangyang examined them carefully and confirmed that they were indeed all top-quality herbs. Bupleurum, Saposhnikovia, Platycodon, Licorice... a complete range of varieties, and all were very clean.
“Your family certainly has experience,” Li Xiangyang praised. “How about this, we’ll go to the purchasing station to weigh and calculate the price.”
When they arrived at the purchasing station, Wang Ergou and Zhang Weiping were already waiting.
"Is this the Miss Liu that Xiangyang mentioned yesterday?" Wang Ergou greeted her warmly.
"Yes, I am Liu Xiaocui," the girl replied shyly.
The group unloaded the herbs from the vehicle and weighed them according to their type.
Li Xiangyang weighed the ingredients and recorded the contents: "Bupleurum chinense 12 jin, Saposhnikovia divaricata 8 jin, Platycodon grandiflorus 5 jin..."
In the end, it was worth a total of over eighty yuan.
"Eighty-three yuan and fifty cents," Li Xiangyang said. "Do you think this price is acceptable?"
Liu Xiaocui's eyes widened: "So much? The pharmacies in town will only give you sixty yuan at most."
“Our purchasing station already offers higher prices than outside,” Wang Ergou explained from the side, “Besides, the quality of your herbs is indeed excellent.”
Li Xiangyang counted out some money and handed it to Liu Xiaocui: "Go back and tell your grandfather that he can send over any good medicinal herbs he finds. We'll buy them long-term."
Liu Xiaocui took the money, her hands trembling with excitement: "Brother Li, thank you so much!"
"No need to be so polite, it's a win-win situation," Li Xiangyang said with a smile. "By the way, are there any other herb gatherers in your village?"
"Yes, there are several households. I'll tell them when I get back."
After seeing Liu Xiaocui off, Wang Ergou remarked with admiration, "Xiangyang, you really have great interpersonal skills. You can close deals anywhere."
Just then, the sound of a car came from outside.
When Li Xiangyang went outside, he saw that it was Captain Liu from Heyan Village who had arrived in a tractor.
"Captain Liu, you've arrived quite early." Li Xiangyang greeted him.
"Boss Li, I was just in a hurry," Captain Liu jumped off the tractor. "I organized people to collect the mountain produce as soon as I got back last night, and we loaded it onto the truck before dawn."
The tractor was pulling a cart full of mountain produce: mushrooms, wood ear fungus, pine nuts, hazelnuts... a wide variety.
"That's quite a lot," Li Xiangyang said, looking at the truck full of goods.
“Our village relies on the mountains for its livelihood, and we have plenty of these things. It’s just that we didn’t have good sales channels before,” said Captain Liu.
It took the group more than an hour to finish counting the goods. In the end, the total value was over 160 yuan.
Captain Liu took the money, his face beaming with joy: "Boss Li, your price is truly fair. From now on, all the mountain produce from our village will be delivered to you."
“That would be perfect,” Li Xiangyang said. “You can organize it later, and we can make regular purchases.”
After seeing Captain Liu off, the purchasing station became busy again. Villagers kept bringing in various mountain products.