Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Li Xiangdong's initial question wasn't actually about the price of silver dollars; he wanted to steer the conversation in a certain direction.

"What is the market price of silver dollars?"

Ququsun held his teacup, frowned, and thought for a moment. "I haven't paid attention to the price of silver dollars. I think it's around four yuan. Why are you asking about that?"

Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "Nothing, just asking."

There's a hierarchy of disdain among antique collectors. People like Ququsun, who collect antique furniture, calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain, naturally look down on those who collect silver coins.

He took a sip of water nonchalantly and said, "If you want to know the specific situation, just go and take a stroll around Baoguo Temple."

"I understand, Uncle Sun. Besides Baoguo Temple, do you know where else I can receive silver dollars?"

Li Xiangdong naturally knew that Baoguo Temple would eventually become a market mainly for stamps and coins, but it wasn't the right time.

There aren't many stalls near Baoguo Temple now, and people who come out to set up stalls are definitely trying to make money, so he doesn't want to be ripped off by those stall owners.

Most importantly, he had other motives.

Cricket Sun shook his head. "I don't know anything else. I don't collect coins, so why would I bother with that?"

"Cough cough~"

Seeing that he wasn't taking the bait, Li Xiangdong coughed twice and said, "Uncle Sun, your cricket business is so successful, you must know a lot of cricket enthusiasts, right? I think these people should have silver dollars on them, don't you think?"

Upon hearing this, Cricket Sun glanced at him sideways, "So that's what you're up to, kid. You're not thinking of poaching us, are you?"

"What are you thinking, Uncle Sun? I'm not that kind of person. Besides, if we're dealing in so many crickets at once, do you think we'd just go door-to-door selling them to you one by one?"

Li Xiangdong quickly denied Ququ Sun's guess, as he had indeed never thought of it that way.

"I bet you wouldn't dare."

Cricket Sun gave him a smug look. "No need for all that trouble. If you're planning to get a few to play with, I have..."

Li Xiangdong interrupted, saying, "It's not just a few, I'm going to collect quite a few."

Cricket Sun asked in surprise, "Collecting a few to play with is enough, how many more do you want to collect?"

After he finished speaking, he stared intently at Li Xiangdong for a while, then asked, "Are you planning to trade silver dollars? Are there people buying them now?"

Li Xiangdong waved his hand and said, "No, no, don't get the wrong idea. I just made a little money from trading crickets. When you have money, you can't sleep soundly at night. You can understand that, right?"

Ququsun nodded. He had so many treasures stored inside, which was fine when he slept at night, but he was really worried about them when he went out to set up his stall.

"Go on."

Li Xiangdong grunted and continued, "So I'm planning to keep a dog at home, but a dog needs a leash. So I'm thinking of collecting some silver dollars and having a silversmith melt them down to make a leash for me."

‘Poof~’

Cricket Sun couldn't help but spit out the water from its mouth.

Hou San and A Zhe, who were standing to the side, couldn't help but start laughing non-stop.

"Get out of here right now!"

"Oh, Uncle Sun, please don't be angry. Why are you so short-tempered?"

Li Xiangdong, who was kicked out of the house again, patted the door, but Ququsun inside ignored him completely.

He shrugged and said to Hou San and A Zhe, "Let's go back."

As they left the Sun family's large courtyard, A-Zhe asked with a smile, "Dongzi, why are you teasing Uncle Sun for no reason?"

Li Xiangdong spread his hands and looked at A Zhe, "How was I supposed to know that Uncle Sun was so easily amused?"

Hou San scratched his head. "Brother Dong, why did you talk to Uncle Sun about silver dollars?"

Ah Zhe added, "That's right, Dongzi, didn't you repeatedly tell us not to tell others about these things?"

Li Xiangdong didn't rush to explain, but instead led the two of them to a secluded place.

"How much money have you two saved up so far?"

Hou San said with a grin, "Brother Dong, including the money we got this time, I've saved up 1,200 yuan. I count it every night when I'm at home."

Ah Zhe chuckled and said, "I'm about the same."

Li Xiangdong nodded. His wife had about the same amount in the small wooden box she hid. Although he always received a larger share of the money, he had previously converted some of it into receipts.

"The three of us together have less than four thousand yuan, which is too little. I plan to get Uncle Sun to work with us."

Upon hearing this, Ah Zhe's eyes lit up. "So you deliberately let Uncle Sun know that we're going to collect silver dollars, but you didn't tell him why we were doing it, letting him wonder about it himself. Isn't this a tactic of 'letting those who are willing take the bait'?"

"Wow, you're so smart!"

Li Xiangdong was quite surprised by A Zhe's explanation. He smiled and told A Zhe and Hou San what he was thinking.

"I did this for two reasons. First, Uncle Sun must have dealt with many old men and women from the old regime when he sold crickets. Trading silver dollars is a long-term way to make money, so we definitely need to make more preparations for the source of the goods."

"Secondly, Uncle Sun is rich. Not to mention how much wealth he had before, just from the crickets we sold to him recently, he has made just as much money as we have."

Ah Zhe gave Li Xiangdong a thumbs up, but Hou San asked, "Brother Dong, what if Uncle Sun doesn't take the bait?"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Don't worry about Uncle Sun not taking the bait. We'll let slip a little bit every time we come over, and keep him hanging on like that. After a while, Uncle Sun will definitely get restless."

"After a few back-and-forth exchanges, when things are almost ready, I'll make everything clear at once. At that point, Uncle Sun will most likely be hooked."

Hou San grinned mischievously, "Hehe, Dong-ge, you're sure to catch Uncle Sun, that hairless fathead fish."

Li Xiangdong nodded with a smile. He did this because that old fox, Ququ Sun, was quite cunning.

He worried that if he made things clear, not only would Ququ Sun not join their group, but he would also just want to quietly earn some commission for their role as a bridge-builder.

Ah Zhe laughed and said, "Dongzi, you're really bad! But I like it."

Hou San said, "I like it too."

"You guys don't like it, let's go home."

Li Xiangdong led the way, and the three of them walked through several alleys to the main road. A Zhe waved and flagged down a tricycle.

They didn't plan to take the bus home; there were too many shady characters these days, and they had encountered one once on their way home.

Fortunately, Li Xiangdong and his two companions were not the target of that "Buddha," otherwise their trip would have been in vain.

The tricycle stopped at the entrance of Li Xiangdong's alley. He and A Zhe waved goodbye to Hou San, who was sitting on the tricycle.

After the tricycle drove away, Li Xiangdong and his companion turned and walked into the alley.

"Dongzi".

Ah Zhe pointed to the north side of the alley, "Don't forget the big families in this area."

Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "I will never forget the meat from our own doorstep. No rush, we will collect it from each household one by one."

"As long as you know what's going on."