In 1985, a small fraction of the people in their city had already begun responding to the policies and starting private businesses. Although they were small-scale trades, the economic recovery was already faintly showing signs of momentum.
The Northeast at this time was still the leader of the domestic economy. Even though many state-owned factories and technical personnel had been sent to support various regions, its status remained unshaken.
Presently, the resources in the Northeast had not yet reached the point of exhaustion. Therefore, just like in his previous life, although the currents were turbulent, business opportunities were everywhere.
In his previous life, he went to the city at the beginning of next year—which was 1986—and then met Lin Yuezhi. After falling in love with her, the two of them got married in 1987 and only then moved back from the countryside to the city.
Right now, what he needed to do was accelerate this process.
He needed capital—capital that would allow him to rebuild his commercial empire.
Now that policies had relaxed considerably, ration coupons were gradually fading from the stage of history. How to earn more capital was the real question.
What big event had happened in their area in '85 again?
Ning Jie's eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered something Old Zhou had told him back in 1989.
It was said that in the winter of '85, two wealthy businessmen from Guangzhou came looking to buy wild mountain ginseng. According to Old Zhou, those wealthy businessmen needed this key ingredient to treat an elderly family member, and they had bought a two-liang-eight-qian ginseng root at the time, paying the ginseng hunter eleven thousand yuan.
In this era, that was a huge fortune!
Normally, mountain ginseng was harvested during the summer and autumn, and the ginseng hunters basically sold it all to supply and marketing cooperatives or state-owned pharmacies for pitifully low prices.
A ginseng root weighing just over a liang fetched only fifty or sixty yuan, and one weighing around two liangs went for just a hundred and fifty or sixty.
At this time, mountain ginseng resources were still quite abundant, and roots weighing over a liang turned up from time to time; there were even rumors of half-jin roots appearing. Moreover, if he remembered correctly, his Second Uncle currently still had a wild ginseng root weighing over three liangs in his possession.
"Second Uncle, don't you have a root of old ginseng in your hands?"
Second Uncle put down his chopsticks and said warily, "What for? That ginseng was dug up by me in the early autumn, and I'm saving it for your mother to stew with chicken to build up her health for the New Year."
Although their family wasn't very well-off, Second Uncle treated his sister-in-law exceptionally well. Before he got married, this sister-in-law took care of all his dirty laundry, and even his wife was arranged by her.
Two or three hundred yuan was a large sum of money, but spending it on his sister-in-law didn't pain him at all.
"Hehe, well, you see... give that ginseng to me, and in a couple of days I'll go to the city and bring a wife back for you."
Second Uncle glared at Ning Jie and retorted unhappily, "Get lost! Whose city girl would come back with you for two or three hundred? Have you been gambling out there?"
Ning Jie hurriedly waved his hands. "Really not, Second Uncle. I'm telling the truth—the other day I heard Zhuzi at the post office say there are southern bosses buying ginseng in the city, so I'm going to try my luck."
"Are those southern bosses out of their minds, coming to buy ginseng in the dead of winter?"
Ning Jie gave a wry smile as he lit a cigarette for Second Uncle and said, "Second Uncle, just let me go try my luck. If it doesn't sell, I'll bring the ginseng back to you; if it sells, the two of us will split it fifty-fifty."
Second Uncle squinted his eyes and took a hard drag on his cigarette, looking at Ning Jie with a smile as he said, "You little bastard. You just want to go wild in the city, don't you? Take the ginseng, but don't sell it to the supply and marketing cooperative—our family isn't that hard up for money. If nobody wants it, bring it back to me so we can build up your mother's health."
Ning Jie breathed a sigh of relief. His Second Uncle still cared about him.
"Alright then, don't you worry, Second Uncle. It's bound to sell for a lot of money, and then the two of us will split it fifty-fifty."
"Get lost with you! I don't want it. If it really sells for a lot, keep it yourself to find a wife."
Ning Jie poured a cup of liquor for Second Uncle and asked, "Second Uncle, might those guys who go mountain-foraging have any inventory in their hands?"
Second Uncle frowned at Ning Jie and asked, "Are you out of your mind, boy? What do you want so many ginseng roots for? That kid Zhuzi has never spoken reliably since he was a kid. If you get tricked by him, won't you be stuck holding the ginseng?"
Ginseng hunters were different from ordinary people; after digging up the ginseng, they would keep it alive themselves, ensuring it lost almost no weight over the entire winter.
Therefore, they were not in a hurry to sell to the supply and marketing cooperative, preferring to hold out for a higher price and go to the city to sell it the following spring. This also meant that the price at which they parted with the ginseng in their hands was not cheap.
It was no wonder they would rather hold onto it than sell to the supply and marketing cooperative: making the trip back and forth to the city and running into a customer who took a fancy to it could multiply the price of a single ginseng root several times over.
"I won't be stuck with it, just trust me, Second Uncle."
"You've got well-informed sources—do they have any treasures hidden away?"
Second Uncle said irritably, "Third-Old Liu has one that's three liangs and seven qian, and he'll probably want eight hundred yuan for it. The rest of them practically don't have any, though the ones with roots over a liang are all holding onto them and won't dig them out of the mountain yet."
Ning Jie was instantly excited. Two ginseng roots weighing over three liangs!
Ginseng was valued such that seven liangs made it ginseng and eight liangs made it a treasure, with the price going up by the liang. A ginseng root of over two liangs could sell for over ten thousand, so wouldn't a three-liang ginseng root fetch double that?
Although Old Zhou was a bit of a scoundrel, he was quite reliable as a person. Since he had mentioned this matter, it shouldn't be false.
A ten-thousand-yuan household in the eighties—while you couldn't say they didn't exist, they certainly counted as being rolling in wealth!
"Second Uncle, tomorrow after we sell the pig, take me over to buy them up."
Second Uncle looked at Ning Jie and stayed silent for a long time.
He had no idea what had gotten into this kid. He'd never noticed him placing such high importance on money before, so why was he reacting like a storm at the slightest hint of wind?
He picked up his wine glass, tossed back a mouthful of fiery liquor, and his face instantly turned red.
"Just this once. If you lose your shirt on this, you'll honestly settle down and farm or hunt from now on."
Second Uncle paused slightly, then continued, "And by the way, marry Liu Jinhua."
Ning Jie nodded hard. "I'll listen to you on everything."
In his heart, however, he muttered that he could never marry Liu Jinhua in this lifetime. It wasn't that Liu Jinhua wasn't a good person, but his heart already housed someone else, and besides, he really wanted to go back and see his little grandson.
Although the two families lived in the same large courtyard, they were in the front and back houses, and each family managed its own money.
By past ten o'clock in the evening, the wild boar had finally been dressed. Ning Jie and his mother went inside, and Ning Jie told his mother all about his plan to buy the ginseng.
His mother felt this matter was unreliable. She did have eight hundred or a thousand yuan in her own hands, but that was all saved for Ning Jie to find a wife.
This money was what Ning Jie had painstakingly saved over the years, pelt by pelt and chunk of meat by chunk of meat. If Zhuzi was lying, going back and forth would cost them a loss of five or six hundred.
Five or six hundred was no small sum; most families in the village didn't even have that much money.
After much persuasion, Ning Jie's mother finally relented. Reluctantly, she took a handkerchief out of the cabinet at the edge of the heated kang, counted out eight hundred yuan, and gave it to Ning Jie, telling him to use the money from selling the pig tomorrow to make up the difference if it wasn't enough.
Clutching the money as he returned to his room, the familiar warm brick bed and the howling north wind outside left Ning Jie's heart turbulent and unable to calm down for a long time.
City B, King of Hell Ning is back!