Chapter 360: The Dried Mushrooms Are Going on Sale!

After sorting out his financial situation, Li Yi decided to head to the hospital.

First, to check on Tang Xue and his mother-in-law; second, because he wanted to talk to An Hong.

Although Li Yi wanted to snap up the cotton mill’s surplus fabric to start a clothing business, he’d never actually run such a business before.

But An Hong was different!

In her previous life, she had made her first fortune by buying up the inventory of the Qingshan County Textile Mill at rock-bottom prices, and had subsequently acquired that small, run-down factory outright.

For a long time afterward, she remained deeply rooted in the apparel and textile industry, only venturing into fields like petrochemicals in the 1990s.

Although it would be another seven or eight years before she bought the Qing Shan County Textile Mill at a bargain price, she might not yet possess the vision or boldness required at this stage.

But considering that she had been working at the textile mill for all these years, she had a deep understanding of the textile industry.

If she could step in to help him, it would certainly save him a lot of trouble.

However, just as Li Yi was about to leave, a deep voice suddenly rang out from the doorway: “Is anyone there?”

Hearing the voice, Li Yi, Long Zhanjun, and the others immediately turned toward the door!

They discovered that a man wearing a cotton overcoat had entered the reception area at some point.

The man wasn’t tall, but he was quite “stocky.” dxmbang

With that thick cotton coat and large woolen hat, from a distance he looked just like a fat bear.

However, the moment Li Yi got a clear look at the man’s face, his eyes lit up. He immediately stood up and said, “Yes!”

The fat man, upon seeing Li Yi, walked straight over and said cheerfully, “Brother, I finally found you!”

Seeing Jin Fatso’s enthusiastic demeanor, and knowing him as he did, Li Yi figured the guy was most likely after the batch of dried goods he had in his possession.

They must have realized that it was getting harder to source goods from the Northeast, which is why they’d remembered him.

“Mr. Jin, why are you here so late? Did you finally come to your senses or something?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

“I just wanted to ask Brother Li if that batch of goods you have is still available,” Fat Jin replied with a forced smile.

“It’s still there, but as for the price…”

Before he could finish, Fat Jin immediately cut in, “Price is negotiable!”

Jin Jishun had already steeled himself for a steep markup when he came today—after all, dried goods were in high demand this year.

“So, how much are you willing to pay per pound?” Li Yi asked.

“Two yuan!”

“Mr. Jin, two yuan is the price from ten days ago. I hope you can offer a fair price,” Li Yi said calmly.

“Brother Li, two yuan is actually quite a lot. Last year, the purchase price for this stuff was less than one yuan and twenty cents!” Fat Jin said.

Li Yi just smiled and said, “Last year, the Northeast didn’t suffer any disasters, and we didn’t even export our dried goods. What do you think?”

Hearing Li Yi’s words, Jin Jishun knew he was dealing with an expert. He immediately said, “Brother Li, go ahead—how much?”

“Actually, dried mushrooms haven’t been expensive in previous years. Back then, over a yuan per pound was considered a high price.”

Plus, they’re only in season for three to five months. By summer, fresh mushrooms are available—cheap and delicious—so who would bother with dried ones?

So they usually didn’t stock up much; a few trips to the Northeast during the fall and winter were usually enough to cover a year’s supply.

But this year, the cold snap hit the Northeast early, burying many crops under snow. Who has the time to sun-dry mushrooms? Supply has suddenly dropped by two-thirds.

More importantly, for some reason, Hong Kong has been importing dried goods from us on a massive scale this year, causing domestic prices to skyrocket.

Just a few days ago, their purchase price was only 1.7 yuan per jin, but now it’s already up to 2 yuan—and even at that price, they can’t get their hands on any stock.

“Flat rate of 2.2 yuan!” Li Yi said.

“That’s too expensive. Let’s meet halfway—how about 2.10?” said Fat Jin.

Li Yi thought for a moment and said, “The price is fine, but the goods aren’t in Beijing—you’ll have to come pick them up yourself!”

“Where is it?”

“Qingshan County, North Sai Province!”

“How much is there?”

“No less than 100,000 catties!”

Hearing this, Fat Jin was momentarily dumbfounded. He asked in shock, “There really are 100,000 catties? You’re not joking?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Li Yi retorted.

“I need to inspect the goods first. If everything checks out, I’ll take all 100,000 jin!”

“Sure!”

“When should we go inspect the goods?” asked Fat Jin.

“No need. I’ll have a batch delivered. If you’re satisfied, you can keep it; if you think the quality isn’t up to par, I’ll sell it to someone else!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, that’s a deal!”

“Alright!”

…….

After seeing Fat Jin off, Li Yi was in high spirits.

He’d been working on this batch of dried mushrooms for over half a year, and now he was finally ready to sell them—great news.

Plus, as soon as these mushrooms hit the market, new investment opportunities would follow. In terms of capital utilization, he had truly maximized his resources.

As a successful businessman, what he feared most was idle capital—that was a massive waste.

Thinking of his agreement with Fat Jin, Li Yi immediately called the Qing Shan County Sugar Factory.

With the deal sealed, the next step was to get some samples shipped over as soon as possible so the guy could inspect them.

For this, Li Yi had no choice but to ask Liang Yukui for help—after all, their sugar factory had plenty of large trucks.

Most importantly, the sugar produced by their factory was exclusively supplied to the Beijing-Tianjin region, so their vehicles had permits to enter Beijing.

That’s right—Beijing entry permits!

Many people assume this requirement was implemented after the turn of the millennium, but that’s not actually the case.

The predecessor to the “Beijing Entry Permit” was a document titled “Notice on Amending the Approval Procedures for Non-Local Vehicles Entering Beijing,” which took effect on August 23, 1979—a date that coincides almost exactly with the start of China’s reform and opening-up.

Back then, not only were cars hard to come by, but this permit was even harder to obtain. According to the provisions of this “Notice,” individuals entering Beijing had to be politically reliable, and the vehicles entering the city had to be in good condition.

In addition, you need to obtain a certificate from the local government and the relevant authorities, as well as a letter of introduction from your employer, which must be stamped with both the employer’s official seal and that of the local vehicle management office. All in all, it’s a huge hassle.

It wasn’t until 2005, when the “Notice on Amending the Approval Procedures for Non-Beijing Vehicles Entering Beijing” was repealed, that the era of requiring letters of introduction for entry into Beijing officially came to an end.

So, unless you have special connections, getting goods from outside the city into Beijing is actually quite difficult.

The phone rang for quite a while before someone finally picked it up. A slightly rough voice came from the other end: “Sugar Factory General Affairs Office. Who’s calling?”

“I’d like to speak with Director Liang!”

“The director has already left for the day. Why don’t you call back tomorrow?”

“Could you please call Section Chief Yang from your Transportation Department for me?” Li Yi asked again.

“I can try to reach him, but I’m not sure if Section Chief Yang is in his dorm. By the way, who’s this?”

“My name is Li Yi. I’m Yang Wenguang’s brother-in-law!”

“Oh, Comrade Li Yi! I know who you are. Please hold on!”

After quite a while, my brother-in-law’s breathless voice finally came through the phone: “Xiao Yi?”

“It’s me, brother-in-law!”

“Why are you calling so late? How’s the matter with my sister-in-law’s family reunion going?”

“Everything went smoothly!”

Li Yi continued, “Brother-in-law, I’m calling you today because I need your help with two things!”

“What is it? Go ahead!”

“We’re ready to sell our dried goods, but we need to send a truckload to Beijing, so we’ll need to use your factory’s truck!” Li Yi said.

“Alright, I’ll talk to Factory Director Liang tomorrow and have them send it over as soon as possible!” Yang Wenguang said.

“Tell Director Liang that we’re not using the truck for free. I’ll cover all the expenses along the way—I’ll pay three hundred yuan for each round trip!” Li Yi said.

“Alright!”

“Also, Brother-in-law, when you head back tomorrow, please give my parents a message for me: tell them that Xiao Xue’s family reunion went very smoothly. I’ve got some things to take care of here, but I’ll go see them as soon as I’m done!” Li Yi added.

“Got it!”

After hanging up the phone, Li Yi asked Long Zhanjun to keep the door open for him, then hopped on the shop’s tricycle and headed to Xiehe Hospital in the city center.