Chapter 150: Harvesting Mushrooms, Setting Rules

Hongqi Commune, Nianzishan Village!

By the time Li Yi and Li Na returned from the county seat, it was already past 3:00 PM. Four people had gone, but only two came back.

Their older sister and brother-in-law had decided to stay in the county seat and planned to start their official jobs tomorrow!

Seeing how excited the couple was, Li Yi almost had to laugh.

But then again, he realized this was the most genuine reaction one could expect from ordinary people of this era upon securing a job at a factory!

Back home, Li Yi gave his third sister a portion of the grilled meat he’d packed from the state-run restaurant, then hurried off to their new home.

As soon as he arrived at the new house, he saw commune members coming and going in the courtyard, each carrying a large wicker basket.

No need to guess—these villagers were all there to sell mushrooms and wild produce!

Seeing Li Yi return with his cart, the villagers greeted him one after another.

Tying the big black horse outside the gate, Li Yi walked into the courtyard.

As soon as he stepped through the gate, he saw Tang Xue and his second sister busy at work, while quite a few villagers were waiting in the courtyard to have their goods weighed.

“Uncle Genliang, this basket weighs 24 jin. Subtract the weight of the basket, and you’re left with 22 jin. That comes to four yuan and forty cents!”

After Tang Xue finished calculating, Second Sister immediately had Uncle Genliang carry the basket into the drying shed next door, then watched as he arranged the mushrooms from the basket one by one on the drying racks inside.

Only after confirming there were no poisonous mushrooms or other unwanted items did she pay him.

After receiving the money, Uncle Genliang looked thrilled. After expressing his heartfelt thanks, he left Li Yi’s new home with a cheerful smile.

“Auntie San, you’ve picked quite a lot—it’s nearly thirty pounds. According to the rules, I can only buy twenty pounds from you. Could you take some of it back?”

“Little Yi’s wife, they’re no use to me back home. Just like you did for Genliang’s family, could you count them as 22 pounds for me?”

“That won’t do. Then it would seem like we’re taking advantage of you…”

Just then, Li Yi immediately said, “Xiao Xue, do as Auntie says!”

Tang Xue looked up and saw that Li Yi had returned; her face lit up with joy.

“When did you get back?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “Just got back!”

Saying this, Li Yi walked over to the small table next to the scale and handed her the two lunch boxes he was holding.

“What is it? It smells so good!”

“You and Second Sister go inside and eat what’s in the lunch boxes first. Leave this to me!” Li Yi said.

“Okay!”

Then Tang Xue pointed to a thick notebook on the table and said, “After weighing the items, write down the delivery person’s name, the weight, and the amount paid. We’ll need to reconcile the accounts tonight!”

“Got it!”

After seeing Li Yi record Third Aunt’s name and the delivery details, Tang Xue finally picked up the lunchbox and motioned for Li Lan to go inside.

While Tang Xue and Second Sister were inside eating the grilled meat, Li Yi quickly weighed all the mushrooms brought in by the dozen or so villagers from the courtyard.

However, he didn’t let them enter the drying room to inspect the mushrooms right away. Instead, he waited until all the mushrooms had been weighed before allowing them into the drying room to inspect them one by one.

During the inspection, Li Yi strictly controlled the quality of the mushrooms, removing all those that were severely damaged or rotten, and even setting aside some that were particularly large or small.

On the one hand, mushrooms that were too large were already past their prime, resulting in poor texture and a bitter aftertaste.

On the other hand, mushrooms that were too small were not conducive to sustainable development after harvesting.

On the other hand, Li Yi wanted to set a strict standard for quality control on the very first day to establish a rule for everyone; gradually, everyone would get used to it.

If we don’t enforce strict standards from day one, people won’t take this seriously later on.

The village has no shortage of people looking to cut corners, so sometimes you have to set the rules in stone.

After inspecting all the mushrooms brought in by the dozens of members, Li Yi immediately paid them.

The members who received their money wore delighted expressions, while the newcomers standing behind them looked on with envy and anticipation.

The mushroom collection didn’t wrap up until seven o’clock in the evening. After seeing off the last member and locking the gate, Tang Xue and Second Sister could finally catch their breath.

Second Sister took a sip of water and pointed to the mushrooms of various sizes that Li Yi had set aside, saying, “Xiao Yi, your mushrooms are sold after they’ve been sun-dried. It wouldn’t matter if these were mixed in, would it? Is it really necessary to pick them out?”

Li Yi replied immediately, “Mixing them in wouldn’t be a problem, but it breaks the rules!”

“Rules?”

“Exactly. In business, integrity is everything. If we mix these substandard ones in today and sell them to others at the price of premium dried mushrooms, that’s deceiving people.”

Li Yi continued, “And while we’re deceiving others, the villagers are deceiving us too. If they see us accepting everything regardless of quality, they’ll stop sorting their own mushrooms in the future. In the end, we’ll be the ones who lose out!”

“That’s why I’ve set a rule right here in front of everyone today: from now on, we won’t accept this substandard stuff, and they shouldn’t pick it either!”

Li Lan nodded thoughtfully, then said, “That’s an interesting way of looking at it. If we do this, everyone will definitely stop picking those mushrooms from now on!”

“Yes, without rules, there can be no order. Since we’ve established these rules, we must enforce them—that’s the only way to grow and strengthen our business!” Li Yi said.

At that moment, Tang Xue spoke up, a bit puzzled: “I’m a little confused by what you’re saying. If we’re supposed to follow the rules, then why did you tell me not to be so strict about the weight limits?”

Li Lan added, “Exactly. Didn’t you say earlier that we’d only accept twenty jin per household? Today, as long as the excess wasn’t too much, you let Xiao Xue take it all. Isn’t that breaking your own rule?”

Li Yi smiled and said, “I have my own reasons for doing this!”

“What considerations?”

“First of all, I set the twenty-jin limit per household not because we can’t handle that much. To be honest, the more we buy now, the more we’ll earn later. The reason for the weight limit is simply that I’m worried everyone will go mushroom picking and neglect their farm work!”

Li Yi continued, “Second, everyone just heads up the mountain with a backpack or a basket. They don’t even know how much the mushrooms they’ve picked actually weigh, so as long as they’re not too far over the limit, I’ll just take the whole lot!”

“So, rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Since we’re all neighbors, let’s try to be a little more understanding!”

Second Sister Li Lan, hearing Li Yi’s two completely different lines of reasoning, immediately shot him a withering look and said, “You’re such a hypocrite—you have two sets of standards. Anything that benefits you is fine, but anything that harms you must be strictly enforced!”

Li Yi burst out laughing. “Second Sister, you were born to be a businesswoman—you’ve grasped the true essence of commerce this quickly!”

Meanwhile, Tang Xue stood to the side watching the siblings’ back-and-forth, looking completely baffled!