Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1029 I thought nobody wanted it, but it turned out to be quite popular.
In the reception room of the purchasing station, there were three plates in front of Zhao Hui, each containing different flavors of dried beef and mutton.

The jerky was cut into very small pieces, much smaller than the ones Li Long used to make, and there was a bowl of warm water next to it.

“Eat one piece, then rinse your mouth with water to wash away the taste before eating the next piece. Finally, you can decide which types of beef and mutton jerky you want,” Li Long said, pointing to the bowl of water. “If you don’t rinse, the lingering taste will affect the flavor.”

"Hey, you're quite particular about this." Zhao Hui didn't expect Li Long to be so "professional."

"Haha, I learned it from movies and TV shows." Li Long laughed—it really was something he learned from movies and TV programs.

For example, movies like "The God of Cookery".

Following Li Long's instructions, Zhao Hui picked up a piece of beef jerky and started eating. Because Li Long had gone to such lengths beforehand, he ate it with great care.

But to be honest, it's really good.

"This tastes good," Zhao Hui said after only two chews. "I'll take this flavor."

As Li Long instructed, he rinsed his mouth and then tried another one—in fact, if Li Long hadn't told him to try all the different flavors, he would have wanted to eat a few more pieces of the first one.

"This one's fine too. It doesn't feel as good as the previous entrance, but it's still nice. I'll take some too..."

Zhao Hui tried all five flavors and found them all quite good, especially the cumin flavor. He said that no one in his hometown had ever made this flavor before, and it would definitely be a hit.

Li Long was satisfied, but also a little worried. Wasn't Zhao Hui supposed to be buying leather? It seemed like he was mainly dealing in jerky.
"Boss Zhao, look, shouldn't we take another look at the hides?" Li Long thought to himself that there were now over a thousand hides in the purchasing station's warehouse. The hides that had been brought over from the two companies last time had all been transferred here, plus some that had been collected recently. If Zhao Hui had arrived later, there would have been nearly two thousand hides.

"Right, right, we definitely need to see the skin." Zhao Hui was still savoring the aroma of the jerky when Li Long reminded him. "Shall we look at it now? It's a good thing we ate the jerky first, otherwise, after seeing the skin, we probably wouldn't be able to eat it. By the way, Comrade Li Long, how about six kinds of jerky—this one, this one, and this one—give me 100 kilograms of each, and 50 kilograms of each of the other three?"

"Not good." Li Long hurriedly waved his hand. "We don't have that much stock. Half is more like it."

He wants so much, he's practically taken away most of Li Long's inventory. How can that be allowed? Huang Lei also wants some, and Huang Lei mentioned it first, so we have to reserve some for him.

"Half price? Isn't that a bit too little?"

"This price is high, it won't be easy to sell, will it?" Zhao Hui didn't say anything, but Li Long seemed a little unsure. "It costs more than ten yuan per kilogram..."

The cost was six or seven yuan, but Li Long raised the price slightly, which only doubled the price.

"That's true..." Zhao Hui calculated the price and became less generous, since a higher price would definitely reduce the target audience.

But thinking about the taste of the dried meat, he felt there was a chance, and his confidence returned. He said:

"Half the price is a bit low, let's reduce it by a third, I think we can definitely sell it!"

Li Long thought to himself, "You're more confident than me now? Okay."

Then the first three items will each weigh 80 kilograms, and the last three items will each weigh 30 kilograms, for a total of 330 kilograms.

According to Li Long's selling price, it's twelve yuan per kilogram, or three thousand six hundred and thirty yuan, which is negligible compared to the hides we're about to see.

When it was Liang Shuangcheng's turn to help Gu Boyuan collect the items, Sun Jiaqiang did odd jobs in the back, and then he joined Li Long in moving the leather.

Zhao Hui brought his car with him. You'll know once you come a few more times. Since you're coming, just bring the car along. It's much more convenient and less troublesome to go back and hire a car after inspecting the leather.

The truck pulled up to the warehouse, and Zhao Hui and Li Long inspected the leather together. Sun Jiaqiang carried leather from the warehouse into the corridor, while the people Zhao Hui brought loaded the inspected and registered leather onto the truck.

The whole process was tense yet orderly.

The hides were stored in the large warehouse, and only those that met Zhao Hui's requirements could be moved out. The sheepskins, cowhides, and rabbit hides had already been sold to the county leather factory in advance. Now, the county leather factory had raised the prices for hides from special wild animals, and Li Long planned to discuss the prices with Zhao Hui when he returned after taking this batch of hides away.

If the price of leather hasn't changed much by then, he'll have to sell it to tanneries instead—but Li Long believes Zhao Hui will likely raise the price then. They've been working together for quite some time, and Zhao Hui is relatively fair about leather prices; if the market price goes up, he'll raise the price he gives Li Long as well.

More than a thousand hides were packed in nearly three hours. While Zhao Hui was washing his hands and resting, Li Long drove his jeep to the courtyard to bring over the jerky he needed and checked its weight for him.

“I have to store these dried meats carefully,” Zhao Hui said after checking them. “They can’t be put in the storage box, otherwise the skin will mix with the meat flavor, and that would be a problem.”

As he spoke, he tied the bag of dried meat tightly, then asked Li Long for a few clean large bags, put the bag of dried meat inside, tied it up, and put it in the driver's seat of the car.

The pelts sold for over 100,000 yuan—more than 1,400 pelts, with whole pelts accounting for 40%. Nowadays, these hunters who deal in pelts are more careful, knowing that whole pelts fetch a higher price. When hunting, they try to shoot the head whenever possible, avoiding damaging the pelt.

The dried meat sold for a little over three thousand but less than four thousand yuan—although it's nothing compared to the leather, the leather is harvested seasonally, with a profit of about one-third to one-quarter, while the dried meat has a profit of almost half.

So if the market opens up, this meat jerky can still be made.

It's tiring, but it makes money.

Li Long invited Zhao Hui to dinner, but Zhao Hui declined, saying he needed to get the hides to Wucheng to catch the train. He also said that the dried meat should be kept away from the hides as soon as possible, otherwise it would still have an odor.

Li Long could tell that Zhao Hui valued these dried meats very much. Could he really open up a market for them?
If it can really be developed, that would be a good thing.

After lunch, Li Long took out two hundred yuan and handed it to Sister Yang as payment for her hard work in processing the dried meat.

"How can I take so much?" Sister Yang hurriedly declined. "You, Uncle, also do the cutting and cooking of the meat. You prepared the meat and seasonings. I just cook it and watch the fire. How can I ask for so much money?"

"Keep it," Gu Xiaoxia chimed in. "Sister Yang, this business of ours will definitely last a long time. If we make money, there's no reason for us to share some with you. We'll definitely keep what we get, and don't be shy about giving us your hard-earned money."

If calculated based on Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng's workload, two hundred yuan would definitely be too much for Sister Yang. However, Li Long was training Sister Yang as a partner, not as a worker, so the way money was distributed from the start was different.

Sister Yang knew this too, so after Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia finished speaking, she didn't refuse anymore.

After all, this job is really tough.

Sister Yang also realized that since Hao Hao had grown up, her role in the Li family needed to change.

Whether the change is good or bad depends on your own choices.

Li Long went to the purchasing station again in the afternoon. Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng were quite happy and worked very hard, even becoming much more enthusiastic towards the customers.

They both knew very well that Li Long would give them a bonus every time he sold a batch of supplies, and these were the happiest days of their lives.

Sun Jiaqiang was thinking of buying his wife a new cotton-padded coat, while Liang Shuangcheng was saving money to buy himself a courtyard house in the county, just like Sun Jiaqiang.

Both of them were eager for money, and Li Long did not disappoint them. Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, he gave each of them a red envelope containing 100 yuan.

It used to be two hundred, but this time it was different. Li Long explained it to them very clearly:

"Most of these hides were collected from the Corps, not from our purchasing station, so I'll give you a smaller bonus."

The two men certainly understood that these hides had been brought over from Li Long's courtyard after the New Year. Their main task in the backyard was to scrape off the oil from the hides and tidy them up.

Don't underestimate this seemingly troublesome little thing. Just because this little thing is done and the leather looks good, Zhao Hui can charge an extra two or three yuan for each piece of leather.

Little by little, it adds up to quite a lot.

Li Long also offered Gu Boyuan five thousand, but Gu didn't want that much. He felt he had too much money and was a little flustered, afraid he wouldn't be able to handle it.

The shareholding agreement between the two was no longer what it used to be. Initially, Old Gu thought 10% would be enough, but Li Long insisted on 20%. Back then, neither of them could have imagined that Li Long would grow the purchasing station to such a large scale, with monthly net incomes of tens of thousands! Of course, the main reason for its success was Li Long's reputation and the purchasing station's "low-profit, high-volume" system.

Although this profit is not small compared to later generations, in an era when various companies were growing wildly and even pigs could fly as long as they found the right path, a profit of one-third to one-quarter was indeed considered meager.

Everyone was happy after the money was distributed.

After Zhao Hui took the meat away, Huang Lei didn't come over, but Li Long sent the meat over. The main reason was that the quantity of wild mushrooms was currently low, and Huang Lei felt it wasn't worth the trip, but he really needed the dried meat. He was mainly thinking of taking advantage of the off-season for dried wild mushrooms to do some other business as well.

Huang Lei was quite sincere and transferred the money directly—four thousand yuan, about the same amount of dried meat as Zhao Hui—the rest was for postage.

Li Long sent them to him according to the different flavors, and told him to keep track of the customer feedback. If there were any reasonable suggestions, they could make changes.

Huang Lei readily agreed, trusting in the quality of the items Li Long sent. The rest depended on whether the high-end customers here would adapt.

With the two major tasks completed, Li Long's workload increased considerably, and now there were more and more sunny days, with the snow outside slowly showing signs of melting.

That evening, Li Long told Gu Xiaoxia that he planned to go to Beiting to deliver some dried meat to Director Qian.

Gu Xiaoxia completely agreed with this point.

“Not only should we send some to Director Qian, but we should also send some to former Director Wei and former station manager Chen of this purchasing station,” Gu Xiaoxia said, putting down her pen. “When we were struggling, they helped us. Now that we’re doing well, this dried meat is good too, so let’s consider it a gift for them.”

"Then you should take some to your workplace and let everyone have a taste," Li Long said with a smile. "I bet there are quite a few people in the county who are envious of us, so you don't make any enemies at work."

"No, not really..." Gu Xiaoxia shook her head, "but it's better to bring some. There are still some people in our workplace who talk sourly—you tell me, with all the money we've made, won't some people get jealous and sue us?"

“Let them sue us! We’re doing the right thing, we don’t break the law,” Li Long said. “Don’t worry, we can keep this purchasing station running for as long as we want.”

Seeing Li Long's confidence, Gu Xiaoxia felt relieved.

With a good family background, a smooth job, and supportive superiors, Gu Xiaoxia lived a very happy life, so happy that some people felt it was unreal.

There's a lot of envy in her workplace. She heard from her colleagues that people were spreading rumors that her family must have exploited legal loopholes to make so much money, otherwise how could it be possible?

Gu Xiaoxia was a little worried.

Now that her husband has said so, she believes him.

"What are you still writing?" Li Long asked as he washed his feet and dried them with a towel.

"Didn't you say you wanted me to improve my education? I enrolled in the Open University, and I'm about to graduate. I need to finish my assignments quickly so that I can get my associate's degree by the end of this semester if I pass the exams."

"Hey! My wife is amazing!" Li Long threw down the rag, came over, hugged Gu Xiaoxia, and kissed her on the cheek. "Then I'll be waiting to see your graduation certificate!"

"Haohao is still right there..." Gu Xiaoxia said reproachfully, "Keep your voice down."

"It's alright, it's alright. They were having so much fun during the day, they're already snoring now." Li Long turned his head and glanced at them, then said with a smile, "Not bad, not bad. Having a college diploma, won't it be easier for you to get promoted or have your job evaluated?"

“Yes.” Gu Xiaoxia sat on the edge of the bed in Li Long’s arms and said softly, “I didn’t know before, but later Director Wang would tell me from time to time that in our area, those with higher education have an advantage when it comes to promotions. Now that we’re talking about making cadres younger and more scientific, those with education are definitely different.”

Last year, several people in the prefecture were promoted to deputy section chief, and they all had bachelor's degrees. Standing alongside those with seniority, some people were dissatisfied, so the leader bluntly said, "If you're so capable, go get a bachelor's degree, and you'll be promoted first too."

“Then what about your junior college degree…” Li Long was a little worried.

"That's the state level, not our county. We can't find two people with bachelor's degrees in the whole county. So my associate's degree is still very valuable!" Gu Xiaoxia said proudly. "I've also decided that after I get my associate's degree, I'll work hard to get a bachelor's degree!"

"You and Sister Yang are the ones who take care of everything at home. If I don't achieve anything in my studies, I'll be terribly embarrassed!"

"Haha, it's good to have a goal." Li Long couldn't help but kiss his wife again. Gu Xiaoxia had just said, "I haven't finished my homework yet..."

His mouth was gagged.

Well, let's put the homework aside for now.

Sexual happiness is the most important thing.

Even though Hao Hao was still asleep in his crib, he would occasionally turn over, and the two adults would have to slow down, which made it even more exciting.

slightly.

The next day, both of them felt refreshed, although it seemed that Hao Hao hadn't slept well and was a little reluctant to get out of bed.

After having breakfast, Li Long took out some dried meat from the side room, divided it into four bags, and put them into the jeep. After loading them, he went to the greenhouse in the back and picked some peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables, which he also put away separately.

The greenhouse is producing a lot of tomatoes now, but there are fewer chili peppers—mainly because we've been eating them a lot lately.

Since not many eggplants are grown, Li Long picked eight, putting two in a bag as a token gesture.

Then I told Sister Yang and drove off in my Jeep.

Driving eastward into the bright sunlight, the glare was so intense that I pulled over to the side of the road, put on my sunglasses, and continued driving.

There were more people on the road, and when we got to the vicinity of Huxian County, we could see that the snow in the middle of the road was starting to melt - after all, the middle of the asphalt road is dark, and there is not much snow left after it has been cleared. Darker colors absorb heat, so the snow melts faster.

When Li Long arrived at the prefectural commune, it was a little after noon, and there were still quite a few people in the courtyard.

After the gatekeeper checked his car, he drove into the yard and went to the car fleet.

Li Long was somewhat surprised to see that there were several more vans at the vehicle fleet—the state-run organization was moving quickly, now they even had vans as a means of transportation.

Finding the driver who was wiping his car, Li Long handed him the bag of dried meat and then asked about Director Qian's situation.

Xiao Si was also happy to see Li Long, saying that Director Qian was in his office and hadn't gone out for the past few days, and told Li Long to go up and find him directly.

Li Long parked the Jeep at his workstation and asked Xiao Si to help him with maintenance, while he took the dried meat to the office building.

Director Qian was reading documents when Li Long called out "Report!" Director Qian looked up, saw him, and waved him in with a smile.

A staff member came over to pour water for Li Long. After the staff member left, Li Long put his bag on the coffee table, opened it, and explained:

"I recently made some dried meat and gave some to people around here. They all said it tasted good, so I brought some over for you to try. By the way, these are tomatoes and peppers that I grew in the greenhouse in my yard. There aren't many, but please try them; it's just a token of my appreciation."

"I heard from Xiangqian a couple of days ago that you made jerky, in several flavors. I was wondering when you would bring it over for me, and here it is. Come on, let me try some." Director Qian was quite interested.

The main thing is that this thing is a relatively novel snack. Director Qian has tried dried meat before, but apart from being dry and salty, it's basically nothing special.

This is different from cured meat; it's a rather unique snack. Coupled with the hype Li Xiangqian gave it, Director Qian actually became quite interested.

Li Long smiled when he saw that Director Qian had casually picked up a cumin-flavored jerky. He thought that Director Qian would probably like the flavor—how could he not like roasted meat jerky?

Sure enough, after eating a small piece, Director Qian nodded repeatedly:
"It tastes great! It's really good stuff! Good, good, good. Take this bag back, your Aunt Guan will definitely like it! Little Li, you're really creative, not bad at all!"

(End of this chapter)