novelhk Chapter 180 Transport
Chapter 180 Transport
Hearing the sound, Lu Hu straightened up, turned around, and saw the three of them pulling a trailer piled high with fruit. He nodded. Beside him was a particularly plump sack, its opening tightly tied. He explained, "We finished picking them a while ago! My truck is also full, no less than yours!" He kicked the sack beside him. "I was thinking that besides exchanging most of them for points, we should keep a bag or two of the best ones for ourselves to eat slowly. So I put a little more effort into picking the later ones. I didn't just rush; I specifically picked the big, dark-colored, firm, and plump fruits. It took a little time, but it makes us feel better if our food looks good, right?"
Hearing this, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but feel ashamed. Compared to Lu Hu's "quality consciousness," her previous operation using the space was simply a "locust swarm" sweep, completely pursuing the maximization of speed and quantity, wishing to strip every branch bare, not caring about distinguishing the size and quality of the fruit. This comparison made her realize that she still had a panic hoarding mentality of "once this opportunity is gone, it's gone" in her subconscious.
Following the barbed wire opening that Land Rover had previously disguised, they needed to get the trailer out first. The opening was wide enough for one person to pass through, but it was extremely cramped for the trailer, which was piled with sacks and was huge.
The four men took turns operating the equipment. Lu Hu went first, carefully turning his trailer so that the front end was aligned with the gap. Then, he and Xie Yingtang crawled out one after the other, pulling hard on the handrail from the outside. Wang Xiao and Xu Xiaoyan helped lift and push the trailer and stabilize the sacks from inside. It took a lot of effort for Lu Hu's trailer to barely squeeze out, with the sacks on it making a scraping sound as they rubbed against the wire mesh.
Then came the second, the third, the fourth... Each one was a similarly difficult process. By the time everyone had moved the trailer out of the barbed wire fence, they were almost exhausted, their arms and back muscles trembling slightly from the excessive exertion.
But that's not the hardest part. Before them lies a small hill covered in snow with a steep slope. They came empty-handed or with only backpacks, but now each of them has to control a trailer that may weigh over 200 pounds and is extremely slippery and out of control on the snow as they descend the hill.
If they unloaded the sacks one by one, carried them off the truck, and then reloaded them, the time and effort required would be enormous. Moreover, it was already late and the temperature had dropped sharply, so it was clearly impractical. The group looked at each other, all seeing the thorny issue on each other's faces.
"We have no choice but to go for it," Lu Hu spat, rubbing his frozen hands. "We'll work together, one vehicle at a time. The people in front will hold the steering wheel, while the people in the back and on both sides will lift and push to keep the vehicle stable and prevent it from overturning or rolling downhill."
With no better option, the four quickly assigned tasks and began the most primitive method of manual labor. They started with the heaviest Lu Hu truck. Xu Xiaoyan was responsible for steering from the front, while Lu Hu, Xie Yingtang, and Wang Xiao were positioned at the rear and sides, firmly planted on their shoulders and arms, shouting "One, two, go!"
The heavy trailer began to move slowly downhill, its wheels crunching over the snow and frozen ground, occasionally slipping and requiring the people behind to hold on tightly. Every step was incredibly heavy, and sweat quickly seeped from their foreheads, turning icy cold in the wind. The short downhill stretch of just a few dozen meters seemed endless. Finally, the first vehicle safely reached a relatively flat area at the bottom of the slope. The four men were almost exhausted, panting heavily as they leaned on the vehicle.
After a few minutes of rest, the next bus will take over... and so on.
Once all the trailers had safely reached the bottom of the slope, the four men were so exhausted they could barely stand up straight, their legs cramping. They no longer cared about their appearance or the bone-chilling cold of the ground, and simply collapsed onto the snow, leaning against the trailer tires or sacks, breathing heavily. They rested on the spot for a full half hour, drank some hot water, and ate some snacks before they could finally catch their breath, but the exhaustion had seeped deep into their bones.
As darkness fell, it was time to set off. The four of them pushed their carts in silence, struggling to move forward across the barren snowfield. Their bodies were extremely exhausted, but their minds were sharpened by the impending reality: how to maximize the "monetization" of the sea buckthorn berries they had painstakingly harvested.
Amid the creaking of the trailer against the snow, Lu Hu spoke first, "With so much sea buckthorn, the four of us should sell it separately, instead of all going to one place. Otherwise, we won't get a good price for any of it. Buyers will definitely try to drive down the price if they see we have a lot of it, and we'll be stuck with it."
Xie Yingtang added, "Selling them separately is fine, but we need to first unify a basic price internally, or set a general price range, so that we don't accidentally start a price war among our own people. That would be a real loss, as it would benefit others for nothing."
Wang Xiao said excitedly, "Isn't there that trading forum inside the base that's maintained by the regional network? Although posting is a bit troublesome, there are quite a few people reading it. Why don't we divide the work? Some of us can set up stalls offline, and some of us can post online? Maybe we can get a higher price online!"
This suggestion made both Lu Hu and Xie Yingtang frown slightly. Lu Hu directly pointed out the key issue: "Selling online? The idea is good, but who will be responsible for contacting, communicating, and confirming? The key is, in this awful weather, it's close to minus twenty degrees Celsius! And it gets dark so early. Who would spend extra money to hire 'extreme cold delivery' for a little bit of sea buckthorn that isn't even an essential item? Unless we deliver it ourselves, but is the cost of running errands, the time, and the risks on the road... worth it? What if we don't sell the fruit and end up dying on the road first?"
He paused, then continued, "Besides, online transactions also involve trust. What if you deliver the goods and the customer finds fault, tries to lower the price, or refuses to confirm receipt? Are you going to make another trip to argue over a bag of sea buckthorn?"
This hits the nail on the head. Sea buckthorn is highly nutritious, but it's not an absolute necessity for survival like compressed biscuits, fuel, or medicine. In such frigid conditions, asking people to pay extra for shipping or risk going out to pick up goods at a designated location makes sales difficult and uncertain. Forum trading is more suitable for small-volume, high-value items or items that are not far away.
A moment of silence fell over the scene, broken only by the monotonous crunch of wheels rolling over the snow. Exhaustion, cold, and anxiety about the returns intertwined, creating a somber atmosphere.
At this moment, Xu Xiaoyan spoke up, "Brother Lu's suggestion of selling in physical stores is one approach, but have you considered where you plan to sell in this freezing weather? Go door-to-door selling?" She shook her head. "I'm afraid we'll freeze before we even sell a few fruits, and it might cause unnecessary trouble. The free market on the first floor of the trading hall? It's crowded, but it's a mixed bag, with scattered sales driving prices down, and it's time-consuming—we need to keep watching. With so much stock, how long would that take?"