Volume One, Chapter 11: The Whole Family Mobilizes—The Day of Shipment Has Arrived!

This outcome was anticipated.

Tang Xionghua smiled warmly but refused to brush it off casually, explaining it was just to earn some pocket money for the kids and that for now, such a large quantity wasn’t necessary.

Before this business fully got on track, he wasn’t planning to support relatives, friends, or villagers. If the venture went smoothly, then bringing the local people along could be considered later.

After all, the Daxia Empire was vast, with many cities.

Although prices for dried small fish and shrimp varied, overall, there was still a significant price gap compared to the countryside.

Money was endless; his goal was simply to earn the target amount within six months.

Of course, that was all in the future.

For now, Tang Xionghua only focused on making the first batch of sales a success.

Near his own courtyard, the first person Tang Xionghua encountered was his brother-in-law, Liu Kunfei—the younger brother-in-law of Tang Yichen.

Liu Kunfei was carrying a bucket and greeted Tang Xionghua cheerfully, “Second brother, you’re back?”

Tang Xionghua braked sharply, stopped his bicycle, and glanced into the bucket. “Let’s see how much you’ve caught.”

Though Liu Kunfei was from the neighboring Liu family village, his home was closer to Tang Yichen’s grandfather’s house than those from the same village—just a three to five-minute walk.

So, he planned to dry the small fish and shrimp he caught right at his wife’s family home, making it convenient for his brother-in-law Tang Xionghua to collect the goods.

Liu Kunfei wasn’t very hardworking; the bucket probably held only five or six jin of small fish and shrimp.

After drying, it would weigh less than two jin, worth under two yuan.

Yet he was already quite satisfied—just a casual two hours of work in the afternoon earned him two yuan.

Enough to buy two packs of Hongta Mountain cigarettes.

Liu Kunfei scratched his head and chuckled, “Hehe, I didn’t catch much. Big brother and Dad are more diligent than me. They must have caught a lot—probably ten to twenty jin.”

“Mainly because I didn’t set many traps today. Tomorrow, I plan to fish a few nets in our pond; I’m sure I’ll catch plenty.”

Hearing this, Tang Xionghua’s previously tense heart relaxed immediately.

“Alright! Let’s go check it out together.”

With that, the two headed toward the courtyard.

Before they got close, Tang Xionghua saw the courtyard floor covered with small fish and shrimp drying—a rather impressive sight.

Tang Xionghua had requested that the small fish and shrimp be dried separately, and that was done.

The sun hadn’t fully set yet, so they hadn’t taken them inside.

Tang Xionghua roughly estimated there were at least thirty jin there, which would yield nearly ten jin once dried.

Adding Liu Kunfei’s catch, their family had gathered about fifteen to sixteen jin today, worth the same amount in yuan.

This was only the first day, and with such a harvest, it was already very promising.

If they invested more in traps and nets, spending more time, tomorrow’s yield would definitely be greater.

Combined with nearly twenty households in their group, catching over a hundred jin a day would be easy.

With this pace, within three to four days, the first batch of 500 jin would be more than sufficient!

Thinking this, Tang Xionghua parked his bicycle outside the courtyard without entering his home and went to other villagers to confirm their harvests.

Sure enough, each household had about ten jin on average, which dried down to around four or five jin.

The supply was secured!

Next, they just needed to wait a few days to collect everything and transport it to Chuzhou, the provincial capital, for sale.

Tang Xionghua was delighted. After happily having dinner with his family, he immediately returned to town.

He reported the situation to Tang Yichen without delay.

Although they had inspected Chuzhou and selling 500 jin to small market vendors shouldn’t pose much problem,

Tang Xionghua, being a first-time businessman, still felt some unease.

“Dad, there’s nothing to worry about,” Tang Yichen said to encourage him.

“The market for dried small fish and shrimp was popular in the previous life; there won’t be any issues.”

“Besides, we saw for ourselves in Chuzhou—it will sell well.”

“Even if something goes wrong, this is only a four or five hundred yuan investment. Losing that wouldn’t be a big deal.”

Tang Yichen was full of confidence in this first batch.

Unless the goods got lost or stolen en route, success was almost guaranteed!

After all, in 1991, information was scarce and materials limited; making money from market price differences was a sure bet.

Even if others knew about the opportunity, they wouldn’t react quickly enough to compete.

Many people, even knowing it was profitable, dared not get involved.

Capital was one thing, but the courage to do business was not something everyone had.

Hearing his son’s words, Tang Xionghua’s confidence soared, eagerly awaiting the day of shipment.

—

The next day.

Tang Xionghua bought breakfast early and placed it on the table, waiting for Tang Yichen to wake up.

After washing up, the father and son quietly ate breakfast together.

“By next month, I won’t be able to live in this house anymore—we’ll have to move back to the village,” Tang Xionghua said, gazing reluctantly at the little house under forty square meters, murmuring to himself.

In the village, there was a room in the house of Tang Yichen’s grandfather, Tang Jiaxiang, that belonged to Tang Xionghua. Since Tang Yichen’s mother passed away, it had remained empty.

The eldest uncle, Tang Jianhua, never occupied that room either.

“Dad, if you’re not used to living in the countryside, once we earn enough, we can buy a house in the county town.”

“But according to my plan, it won’t be long before we move to the great metropolis of Modu.”

“Before that, living in the village is actually quite nice.”

“After all, there probably won’t be many chances like this in the future…” Tang Yichen said shyly.

“A big city, huh? I’d really like to see it,” Tang Xionghua smiled with a hint of longing in his eyes.

After breakfast, the two returned to the countryside together.

They brought along some change of clothes, planning not to return to town for a few days.

As soon as they entered the village, they saw all the villagers busily working on the small fish and shrimp.

By the river at the village entrance, and in the ponds, people were constantly casting nets…

The liveliest place was undoubtedly Tang Yichen’s grandfather’s home.

One after another, villagers came with their small dried fish and shrimp stock, as well as half-dried batches, delivering them to Grandpa Tang Jiaxiang.

Though Grandpa guaranteed to pay nine mao per jin, everyone wanted to settle first and only considered the deal done upon receiving the money.

Tang Xionghua had given the money to Grandpa yesterday, who weighed the goods and paid on the spot.

Villagers came with bags and left empty-handed but smiling.

There wasn’t even time for small talk—they quickly returned to work!

With the money in hand, they had nothing to worry about.

They just wanted to catch more and make more money…

If Tang Xionghua suddenly stopped buying, where else could they find such a good moneymaking opportunity?

Seeing this, Tang Xionghua quickly joined in to help weigh and pack.

Though the workload wasn’t heavy, he was busy all day.

At day’s end, they tallied the harvest.

Good heavens! Nearly 200 jin!

That was only the first day of collection, and some hadn’t brought dried fish yet.

By tomorrow, when everything was dried, they expected even more.

Perhaps they’d gather enough in less than three days.

That day, the bored Tang Yichen even joined Tang Yifan for a walk by the river.

By the next day, July 13th,

They had already collected and exceeded 500 jin, totaling 548 jin with their own goods.

Villagers came with bags, and Tang Xionghua couldn’t refuse to buy.

Big and small sacks and plastic bags—more than a dozen—were packed and stacked against the courtyard wall, like piles of harvested grain.

Early on the morning of the 14th, just as dawn broke, the hand tractor Tang Xionghua had arranged from the village drove into the courtyard.

Finally, the day to ship the goods had arrived!