Chapter 254: Forced Purchase and Sale? Follow-up Arrangement
Chapter 254: Forced Purchase and Sale? Follow-up Arrangement (Subscribe!)
3.1. Weekends.
"Xiao Li, go back."
During the morning, Mr. Hua took Li Kailang to visit five important people.
Some of these characters are business tycoons, such as Lin Jingchen, a wealthy man;
Some are descendants of the Eight Banners who are still old and young. Although times have changed, their family background and influence cannot be underestimated;
Others are leaders of military compounds, who have now retreated behind the scenes.
These five people all showed great interest in the wine brewed by Li Kailang.
They once tasted the wine brewed by Li Kailang and praised its unique taste and magical effects.
Some people even become addicted to alcohol and have to take a sip every day, of course there are also people who have never tasted it.
When visiting, everyone has a different attitude, some good, some bad, and some just so-so.
There is no need to talk about the good ones, let me talk about the general ones first.
Mr. Hua took Li Kailang to the military compound to visit the next contact.
This contact is an old friend who has a deep friendship with Mr. Hua.
After arriving at the military compound, we saw several soldiers standing at the gate. They seriously checked the identity and purpose of every visitor.
Li Kailang first made some inquiries at the gate and explained in detail the purpose of their visit.
Afterwards, he called the person that Mr. Hua wanted to meet and had some communication with him.
After confirmation, the two of them could not go in yet. They still had to wait for the person contacted by Mr. Qiao to send someone to pick them up before they could go in.
While waiting, Li Kailang couldn't help but sigh at the strict security measures here. Li Kailang had the opportunity to carefully observe the environment and atmosphere of the military compound.
The green trees here, the simple and elegant buildings, reveal a solemn and mysterious atmosphere.
After a while, someone brought them both in. Li Kailang looked at the children playing in the military compound, all of them with smiles on their faces.
The children here are very different from the ones I've seen at Lin Jingchen's place. The children here don't seem to be spoiled, and each one of them gives people a very tough feeling.
After a while, Li Kailang met the person that Mr. Hua contacted, and saw him watering flowers in the yard.
"Old Joe!" Old Hua shouted loudly.
"Lao Hua!" Old Qiao shouted in surprise.
The two of them exchanged some words, and then Mr. Hua introduced Li Kailang to him, "This is the one I told you about before."
"Xiao Li, you can just call this old guy Old Qiao." Old Hua introduced.
"Mr. Qiao." Li Kailang called out at the beginning.
"Hello, Master Li! The wine you brew is really good," Mr. Qiao responded politely and praised Li Kailang's wine.
But from the words, Xiao Li could feel that Mr. Qiao's attitude was somewhat cautious and reserved, and he did not communicate with him as enthusiastically as Mr. Hua.
Seeing this, Li Kailang did not talk too much with Mr. Qiao.
On the contrary, Mr. Hua had a very good chat with Mr. Qiao. He tried his best to introduce Li Kailang in an attempt to dispel Mr. Qiao's doubts and vigilance.
What Elder Hua said was effective. The wariness in Elder Qiao's eyes was a little less, but it still existed.
It seems that Mr. Qiao only reached a transactional relationship with Li Kailang and did not want to have any further relationship.
"Since you just want to establish a trading relationship, that's great. I can relax a little and don't have to worry about anything."
Thinking of this, Li Kailang acted indifferent and interjected a word or two from time to time.
Originally, considering that Mr. Qiao was a good friend of Mr. Hua, his attitude was involuntarily lowered to give Mr. Hua face.
Since no one cares about him, Li Kailang will naturally not be so humble and make himself suffer.
"Okay, it's getting late. I won't chat with you anymore."
"It's almost noon now. It's a rare opportunity for you to come here, Lao Hua, why don't you stay and have a meal before leaving."
"No, no, I still have to go back and prepare. Oh, you must remember to send someone to get me some wine tonight!"
After saying that, Mr. Hua took Xiao Li away from Mr. Qiao's residence and headed for the next destination.
What Li Kailang didn't know was that Mr. Qiao had never actually drunk Li Kailang's wine. He only bought Li Kailang's wine to give face to Mr. Hua.
This is why Mr. Qiao was so indifferent to Li Kailang. If he had drunk before, he would not have had this attitude.
If there are average attitudes, there will naturally be bad ones.
Li Kailang's wine is good, so naturally it will attract people's attention.
When he comes to a new connection, this person can guess who it is by looking at the person’s appearance and temperament.
A middle-aged man who looked quite arrogant started by giving Li Kailang a stress test.
He deliberately said to Li Kailang in a contemptuous tone:
"Master Li, you are so young. Food is very scarce now. In the future, there will be no food to make wine. You will have no money to live."
"How about this? I'll give you 10 yuan a month, and I'll provide you with food, drink, and shelter, and you'll be the only one making wine for my family. How about that?"
Hearing this, Li Kailang laughed in his heart. He wanted to bribe him with just 10 yuan. What a joke! Wasn't this an insult?
"No, I have a regular job. I don't make money from brewing wine. It's just a hobby. If I can't brew wine anymore, then I won't brew wine anymore."
"Huh? This"
Hearing this, the man was shocked. He originally thought that Li Kailang was a professional winemaker.
I originally wanted to use this to threaten and suppress Li Kailang, but I didn't expect that Li Kailang actually had a serious job. This made things difficult.
Li Kailang stood up and said, "Okay, I don't think you really want to buy some wine, so forget it. I have something to do so I'll go back first."
The man was obviously unwilling to give up control over Li Kailang and threatened:
"Stop, kid. You can't just come and go as you please here. I'll be frank. I just want you and your wine recipe."
"Hand over the wine recipe if you know what's best for you. Make wine for me from now on. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."
As he spoke, several tall servants around him stood up and looked at Li Kailang with ferocious expressions.
Mr. Hua did not expect this kind of situation to occur. In the past, all transactions with him were polite. How could it suddenly turn out like this?
However, Li Kailang remained very calm and was not frightened by the threats from the servants.
On the contrary, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes, and he seemed to be prepared to deal with it.
"Master, you are so generous. We are just doing a small business. There is no need to make any moves, right? We can sit down and have a good chat."
The man said bluntly: "Old man, get out of the way. If my father didn't like the crappy wine you brewed, I would have fallen to the ground long ago."
"What did you say! Do you have the guts to say it again!" Li Kailang said angrily.
Seeing Li Kailang's angry look, the man became even happier and said unscrupulously:
"Why are you angry now? I just said it five or ten times, so what?"
"Even if I pour all the crappy wine your master brews into the ground, no one will drink it."
"You are looking for death!" Li Kailang said angrily.
The man laughed loudly: "Looking for death? Look where you are, kid. You still dare to say I am looking for death."
"Go ahead, beat this guy up for me!"
After saying that, he waved his hand and all the servants rushed forward.
"Hmph!" Li Kailang snorted coldly, moved his body, and poured out his Bajiquan skills.
He showed his strength without reservation, every punch hit the target and every move was deadly.
"what!"
"what!!"
"what!!!"
After a few breaths, there were already seven or eight people lying on the ground, each holding their stomachs and groaning.
"You, you, you, don't come here!"
Seeing Li Kailang's powerful strength, the man was so scared that he stepped back repeatedly and was tripped by the furniture and fell to the ground.
"Bang!" The body fell to the ground.
Li Kailang naturally had no mercy. He seized the opportunity and rushed forward.
"what--"
Li Kailang suddenly grabbed him and punched him in the abdomen, causing him to foam at the mouth.
As if beating him was not enough, Li Kailang looked at his wide open middle door.
He directly kicked the man in the crotch. "Ah!!!" The man screamed and fell to the ground, covering his penis.
The servant lying on the ground was so frightened by the heavy blow that he quickly closed his legs, fearing that he would be affected.
Seeing this scene, Mr. Hua couldn't help but give a thumbs up and exclaimed: "Xiao Li, you are really ruthless!"
Mr. Hua no longer had the frightened and timid look he had just had.
Li Kailang proudly and handsomely flicked his nose with his thumb, as if he was possessed by Bruce Lee.
"Of course. Don't you see who I am? Do you really think you can fight me just because you have more people? My martial arts are not for show."
"Mr. Hua, let's go."
Old Hua nodded and left with Li Kailang, leaving behind the servants and the master wailing all over the place.
Li Kailang took Mr. Hua back to his yard.
Mr. Hua turned to Li Kailang, his tone somewhat cordial:
"Okay, let's meet these four first today. When I'm free later, I'll take you to visit the others."
As for the person who was beaten, he was naturally not taken into consideration.
Li Kailang shook his head: "Mr. Hua, don't bother. These four are enough. You don't need to visit others."
"How can this be done? If we want to visit, we have to visit them all." Mr. Hua insisted.
Li Kailang said, "Mr. Hua, don't forget that we will be short of food in the future. It will be useless to visit as many people as possible. If we don't have wine to give them, then it will be useless."
After listening to Li Kailang's words, Mr. Hua was silent for a moment, then nodded: "What you said makes sense, then let's do as you say."
Li Kailang said: "Okay, I'll go back first and bring you the wine later."
"When the wine is ready, I'll leave it with you. Please keep the money for me. If you need money, just use it directly. Don't be polite to me."
"How can this be possible?" Mr. Hua shook his head and refused.
Seeing how determined Mr. Hua was, Li Kailang stopped trying to persuade him and made up his mind.
From then on, every time I sent wine over, I would secretly leave the money with Mr. Hua.
After all, during a famine, everyone is short of food, so where would there be extra food to make wine?
In this way, Mr. Hua will not get much benefit. Li Kailang is also trying his best to help Mr. Hua so that he can get through this difficult time.
4 people, 5 bottles each, that's 20 bottles.
At 1 yuan per bottle, that comes out to 20 yuan, enough for Mr. Hua's monthly living.
Now 5 yuan is enough for a person to live for a month, and it is also the relief line for poor families.
The price is 1 yuan, which may not seem high, but it is actually quite expensive.
If you knew that Moutai is only 2.88, this is incomparable.
But most of the time-honored liquors like Yanhe Daqu 1.32, Erguotou 0.87, etc. are in this range.
Li Kailang’s wine is definitely more expensive than theirs, but his wine is not very famous, so it’s not bad to have this price.
At this price, it is half more expensive than Hua Lao Niang's wine.
Li Kailang just worked hard and it was basically all profit.
"Mr. Hua, I'll go back first. I'll get some wine later."
Li Kailang said something and then said goodbye and went back.
The wine is in the planting space. Li Kailang has already brewed several large vats of wine and can be ordered at any time.
Even if Li Kailang doesn't make wine now, these large vats are enough to provide a year's supply.
Li Kailang is now going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy glass bottles weighing one kilogram.
After all, it was agreed that bottles should be used as units, so it would be easier to carry things.
"Comrade, do you have any glass bottles left? I want to buy some."
Li Kailang asked the salesperson.
The salesperson glanced at the glass bottle and said, "Yes, comrade, how many do you want?"
"I want a lot, do you have 20?"
"20? Comrade, what do you want so many for?" The salesperson looked at Li Kailang warily.
Li Kailang explained: "Oh, I'm here to buy for the whole yard. The sauce and vinegar need to be packed separately. Mainly, I'm here to pack some loose white."
As he spoke, Li Kailang suddenly approached the salesperson and whispered, "You also know that wives don't allow people to drink, but men always have to drink secretly, right?"
"You men are really something. Is wine really that delicious? Can't you just quit drinking?" the salesperson said with a grin.
Without further doubt, he looked at the glass bottle and said, "Comrade, there are not many glass bottles, just 5. Do you think it's okay?"
"Of course!" Li Kailang replied.
After paying the money and getting the glass bottles, Li Kailang returned them to a few supply and marketing cooperatives and bought the remaining glass bottles.
"It's really troublesome to buy these bottles. When I get back, I'll tell Mr. Hua to let them keep the glass bottles so that they don't have to buy them every time." Li Kailang said.
The story doesn’t end after purchasing these glass bottles.
"Since we are here, we might as well buy some tools and brew more wine."
Li Kailang also needs to buy another set of wine-making tools. After all, he has given the address to Mr. Hua. In order to prevent Mr. Hua from making a sudden inspection, he still has to do what he should do.
Of course, wine is not brewed in the yard, but in the planting space, and these tools must also be stained with traces of winemaking to prevent them from being seen at a glance.
Naturally, these things would not be placed in the side rooms, but only in the ear rooms.
When Li Kailang came out of the supply and marketing cooperative again, all the tools for making wine had been bought.
"This time, it won't be a problem to brew over 100 kilograms of wine at a time."
After buying everything, Li Kailang returned to the courtyard and went to the ear room first to clean up the space and put out the tools for making wine.
Li Kailang looked at the tools in front of him with great satisfaction: "Now it looks like a small winemaking workshop. Even if Mr. Hua comes, he won't be able to find any flaws."
Except for the fact that there was no trace of winemaking, Li Kailang did everything he could.
Then, clean the glass bottle and fill it with wine.
"If the time is not so short, we can just move a big vat to Mr. Hua's place. That would be much easier." Li Kailang said lightly.
According to Mr. Hua’s request, Li Kailang started brewing the second time only after Mr. Hua tasted it and agreed.
It is naturally impossible to do this now that the second batch of wine has not been brewed yet.
"It's almost time anyway. We can just move a big vat over there at the end of the month and let Mr. Hua do it himself." Li Kailang arranged.
After a while, Li Kailang filled all the glass bottles with wine and went out again.
"It's strange, why is there no one here today? Usually at this time, the yard is always bustling with people."
Li Kailang looked around the front yard. Since he entered the yard, he didn't meet anyone, and didn't even hear any sound. The whole yard seemed to have become an empty city.
Li Kailang planned to go to Yan Bugui's house to ask, but he saw the third aunt sitting in the house with needle and thread in her hands, apparently for Yan Jiedi.
The third aunt looked focused and didn't seem to notice Li Kailang's arrival.
"Third Auntie!" Li Kailang shouted.
"Hey, Xiao Li? Why are you here? Is there something wrong?" The third aunt heard the voice and turned to look.
"Auntie, why is the yard so quiet today? I don't see anyone." Li Kailang asked.
"Oh, don't you know?"
"I went out early in the morning."
"I almost forgot, it's not that everyone is worried about food shortages, so now everyone is out buying food."
Li Kailang was puzzled: "Buy food? Isn't there still a lot of food in the cellar? Why are they all gone one by one?"
The third aunt said, "Isn't it because everyone is afraid of going hungry? They want to buy more. Not everyone went. The Jia family in the middle courtyard didn't go, and some housewives didn't go."
"By the way, Xiao Li, if you want to buy some, you'd better hurry up. I heard that all the food on the black market is sold out now, so you'd better hurry up!"
"Okay, I got it. Thanks, Auntie." Li Kailang thanked.
The third aunt nodded and turned around to continue making clothes.
After knowing the whole story, Li Kailang didn't care anymore. He got on his bike and delivered the wine to Mr. Hua.
(End of this chapter)