Lin Lan, Li Xiangyang, and the others got to their feet as the commune members crowded around. They asked if Lin Lan's group would pay them immediately upon accepting their dried goods.
"Don't worry, everyone. As long as we accept your goods, you'll be paid on the spot," Lin Lan said, looking at them.
"We trust you, Dashan's here!" the crowd replied, and everyone went home to get their dried goods to sell.
When Lin Lan, Zhou Shitou, and the others returned to the house, they asked Wu Shufang to borrow a steelyard scale from the production brigade to weigh the dried goods. Wu Shufang agreed and hurried off.
Zhou Shitou asked, "Cousin, if the villagers ask me to bring back goods for them, where should I go to buy them?" He had only agreed to it earlier because Lin Lan's confidence had rubbed off on him.
Lin Lan thought for a moment. Salt at the supply and marketing co-op was sixteen fen per jin, while she bought it on the black market for twenty fen per jin.
