Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1051 Seeing Money, Chen Hongjun is Different from Li Long

Chen Hongjun is both happy and somewhat worried.

Since the start of the fritillaria season, he has harvested more than 300 kilograms of dried fritillaria.

Like Li Long, he and the workers washed the collected fritillaria bulbs thoroughly before drying them to ensure they reached premium quality.

Almost all the money earned from collecting hides in the early stages has been invested, and there is not much working capital left.

These 300-plus kilograms of dried scallops were purchased for over 20,000 yuan, but based on last year's selling price, they could have been sold for nearly 40,000 yuan.

In other words, if he were to sell all the goods currently in his warehouse, he would make a profit of over ten thousand yuan.

In less than two months, he had already earned enough to become a millionaire. At this rate of making money, there are very few people who can match it these days.

However, if Jia Tianlong doesn't come over, he really doesn't have much working capital left to continue buying fritillaria bulbs.

But the fritillaria season is not even halfway over yet, and there is still a long time to go, so Chen Hongjun is quite conflicted.

When things were so tough before, he never thought of borrowing working capital from Li Long, but now that things are going so well, he's almost unable to hold on.

Fortunately, on April 30th, Jia Tianlong arrived with two assistants, carrying a large black bag.

"Hey, Lao Chen, you're doing a great job here." Seeing Chen Hongjun sitting behind the counter, commenting on a seller's mother-of-pearl, Jia Tianlong, looking travel-worn but beaming, said with a smile, "You should have gone out on your own a long time ago; this is so much more profitable!"

Chen Hongjun smiled but didn't say anything. It was easy for Jia Tianlong and the others who had come out earlier to say such things; for him, as someone within the system, giving up his secure job was truly difficult.

"How's it going? How much stock do you have now? Should I pick up what's here first, or go to Li Long's place first?" Jia Tianlong asked, seeing Chen Hongjun busy but not speaking.

"I see that you don't have as many people coming here as he does over there? But you've only been open for a short time, and your reputation hasn't been established yet, so it's already pretty good."

Chen Hongjun noticed that Jia Tianlong's tone had changed slightly since he had changed his identity; he was joking more casually. Chen Hongjun didn't mind, since he was out here to make money and get things done, he couldn't be too concerned about such things.

Previously, Jia Tianlong treated him with the respect due to a leader, but now he is a business partner.

"Take what's here first. I have over 300 kilograms of dried goods. Take them all now and give me the money. It'll help me with cash flow." Chen Hongjun said directly, half-jokingly, "I'm in contact with Li Long. This stuff is reserved for you."

Actually, you should know that I have connections with more than just you; there are other people who also want to buy goods from me. But Li Long already spoke up, so I'm reserving it for you. It wouldn't be good if someone else bought it instead. I'm doing this to save face for you.”

Although Chen Hongjun's role in Jia Tianlong's eyes had changed, the 300-plus kilograms of fritillaria bulbs remained unchanged. Those 300-plus kilograms would earn him an extra 10,000 yuan.

"Who would I possibly mess with? Money!" Jia Tianlong immediately smiled and said.
"Alright, alright, Old Chen, I appreciate your help. You can accept it first, I'll wait a bit, and then we'll take inventory."

After Chen Hongjun finished collecting the fritillaria bulbs from the three sellers, he handed over the remaining two licorice bulbs to his employees. Then, he took Jia Tianlong to the back warehouse to check the fritillaria bulbs.

"Old Jia, how much are the first-grade fritillaria bulbs this year?" Chen Hongjun asked as he unlocked the door.

"It's gone up by ten yuan compared to last year. Grade 1 is 130 yuan, and if you have any top-grade goods, I'll buy them for 150 yuan," Jia Tianlong said. "Grade 2 is 100 yuan. There's a huge demand for premium quality goods in the medicinal herb market right now... Hey, Old Chen, you're a veteran of the purchasing station. You must have some dealings with Li Long over this stuff!"

"What do you mean 'this stuff'? Are you swearing at me?" Chen Hongjun had just shown Jia Tianlong the untied bag of fritillaria bulbs when he heard this, and he retorted irritably, "You're the stuff!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I misspoke in my excitement. I meant your goods. They're really good, very good. I've only seen such clean and pure fritillaria bulbs from Li Long in the past two years."

"Have you forgotten? Li Long initially sold fritillaria bulbs to me, so I was the first to see him." In terms of seniority, Chen Hongjun was much older than Jia Tianlong.

"Hehehehe, that's right, that's right. Old Chen, could you pour it out and let me see?"

"Of course, no problem. Come on, have your people lend a hand and bring over that iron sieve over there to set up. We'll pour all these bags up." Chen Hongjun had personally handled these fritillaria bulbs, so he wasn't worried.

When he saw the iron sieve filled with clean, distinct fritillaria bulbs, and felt how dry they were when he grabbed a handful, and found the inside of one was also very dry, with a strong bitter and medicinal taste, Jia Tianlong's smile widened. He excitedly said:
"Top-grade, absolutely top-grade!"

With Jia Tianlong's approval, Chen Hongjun smiled. One hundred and thirty yuan per kilogram, a bit higher than he had imagined. Selling over three hundred kilograms would bring in more than forty thousand yuan, enough to cover his cash flow for the time being.

He wasn't planning on competing with Li Long, but he couldn't help asking:
"Old Jia, how many fritillaria bulbs do you think Li Long can collect this year?"

"Collecting five or six tons shouldn't be a problem," Jia Tianlong casually remarked as he and his assistant helped Chen Hongjun weigh the fritillaria bulbs from the sieve.

"Last year it was about this number, this year it should be more, right? In the past few years, he has collected more fritillaria bulbs each year than the previous year."

He didn't reveal the full truth, after all, his relationship with Li Long was better than his relationship with Chen Hongjun at this time, and he had to keep things under wraps.

Chen Hongjun felt that he would be lucky to collect one ton of fritillaria by the end of the entire fritillaria harvest season.

The net profit from one ton of fritillaria bulbs he sells can reach 30,000 to 40,000 yuan. This is an unimaginable figure for him.

But Li Long was able to collect so much; he didn't have this much when he started his purchasing station!

“Li Long’s situation cannot be calculated using common sense.” Jia Tianlong seemed to see Chen Hongjun’s doubts and explained, “He has a nationally recognized title, and his purchase price is higher than other purchasing stations from the beginning. His service attitude is also better, so he won over those middlemen from the start.”

People from other counties and cities also came to him to sell their goods. Compared to the meager train fare, the extra five yuan he gave for each kilogram of fritillaria was what those middlemen cared about!

Although the principle is simple, not everyone is willing to do it. By the time they realize it, Li Long has already snatched all the customers away.

One wrong step leads to another, which is how Li Long's purchasing station came to be. Although it is located in a remote area of ​​Ma County, its reputation covers the entire Beiting Prefecture, including parts of Urumqi, and even extends westward to Shawan and Kuitun. Because of his road construction, people from the Ili River Valley even bring their goods to him to sell.

In the private acquisition market, he was in a commanding lead, unmatched by anyone.

After weighing the money and paying, Jia Tianlong counted out more than 41,300 yuan from his black bag and handed it to Chen Hongjun in stacks.

“Old Chen, you made the right choice by coming out here to work. Before, most of the money I gave you went to the government. Now, doing this, you keep all the profits. Just this one trip should be enough to make you a millionaire, right?”

“Not that much. All the working capital I have here is invested by Li Long. I have to share some of the profits with him.” Chen Hongjun was quite happy to receive the money. He specially found a large black backpack, put the money away in stacks, and finally zipped it up. He smiled and said, “When you come again, you should be able to earn about 10,000 yuan. I don’t ask for much. I’m quite content with this.”

"You can't be satisfied. You need to work harder. The more you earn, the more money I can give you. This is Beiting City, after all, with a large population. I'm not saying you have to surpass Li Long's place, but you can't be too far behind, right?"

"We can't compare, we can't compare. I've watched Li Long grow step by step. He's lucky, he seized opportunities well, he's good at learning and humble. People like us are a step behind, and it's hard to catch up," Chen Hongjun said realistically.

It was the first time he'd received so much money of his own, and he was a little uneasy. He wondered if he should pay the taxes early, otherwise he wouldn't feel at ease with the money.

Jia Tianlong didn't say anything more and left with his men, carrying the fritillaria bulbs. This time, he rented a car directly from Wucheng and drove around to several locations in northern Xinjiang to collect goods. His first stop was Chen Hongjun's place, and his second stop was Li Long's purchasing station.

"I was thinking of buying fritillaria from you and then making a trip to Shawan, but your goods have filled my truck completely. Li Long, your business is getting bigger and bigger!"

Jia Tianlong was quite relaxed around Li Long. Neither of them did any manual labor. On Li Long's side, Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng worked together to move goods out of the warehouse, while on Jia Tianlong's side, his two assistants were responsible for checking the received goods. Watching the clean bags of fritillaria bulbs being poured out, Jia Tianlong was quite moved.

When Li Long returned home for dinner the night before, Gu Boyuan told him that Jia Tianlong had called the purchasing station and asked him to wait until the next day.

Li Long originally planned to take Mingming and Haohao into the mountains again, but this plan was thus abandoned.

The more than 300 kilograms of dried goods that Chen Hongjun had were nothing compared to what Li Long had.

The first batch of fritillaria bulbs was harvested in mid-to-late April. In just over ten days, Li Long's purchasing station has received more than two tons of fritillaria bulbs, and nearly two tons of dried fritillaria bulbs have also been harvested.

In addition, there were medicinal herbs such as deer antlers, deer velvet, and licorice, enough for Jia Tianlong to fill a whole cart.

"Luckily, I knew you had plenty of stuff here, so I withdrew extra cash in Wucheng this time, otherwise I might not have been able to afford it."

Jia Tianlong only glanced at the fritillaria and other medicinal herbs Li Long had placed there before handing over the inspection and handover to his assistant. He trusted the quality; Li Long's name was now a guarantee of trustworthiness, a reputation built up over several years of practice.

With nearly two tons of dried fritillaria bulbs and other miscellaneous items, Jia Tianlong would have to pay Li Long a total of over 278,000 yuan. Since nearly one-third of the fritillaria bulbs were obtained by Li Long in the mountains, the profit from this transaction was approximately 100,000 yuan.

That's a bit scary.

The two men watched as the workers handed over their work, signed the papers, and paid the money. Then they went to the reception room to drink tea while the workers loaded the truck.

"When is your wife giving birth?" Li Long asked with concern. "After this fritillaria harvest season, will you be staying home with your wife?"

“Yes, this is a big event for our Jia family,” Jia Tianlong said with a smile. “The baby will be born in the fall, and I’ll call you then.”

"Yes, you definitely have to call." Li Long took the prepared bag and handed it to Jia Tianlong. "It's for you. Open it and take a look."

"What's all this mystery about?" Ma Tianlong took the bag, feeling its weight, and said with a smile, "Is this a surprise for me?"

"Yes."

Jia Tianlong bent down and opened the cloth bag. When he saw the chubby baby figure carved from jade, his eyes widened. He carefully turned it over in his hand, examining it closely, before looking up at Li Long in astonishment and asking:
"This...you had it carved?"

"Well, I found a nice piece of jasper, similar in material to that other jade. I took a picture of it, then took the picture to Wucheng and had a jade carving master carve it. What do you think? Do you like it?"

"I love it! Hey, you really surprised me! My wife will be so happy if I take this home! Good, good, Li Long, you're a true friend!"

Li Long gave me this gift only after I paid, because he didn't want me to feel guilty. Doing business with someone like that is really comfortable; you won't be pressured by personal relationships. Business is business, and friendship is friendship; you don't have to worry about so much. It's great.

Having hauled too much cargo, Jia Tianlong prepared to head back to Wucheng. Li Long invited him to stay for lunch, but Jia Tianlong declined, saying that he had originally planned to make a trip to Kuitun today, but this had already slowed things down, and he needed to catch up on his journey.

Li Long didn't try to persuade him further. After seeing Jia Tianlong off, he left 50,000 yuan of working capital with Gu Boyuan and deposited the rest in the bank.

He was thinking that new 100-yuan bills would be issued this year, and they should be ready to use by July or August when Huang Lei was harvesting wild mushrooms. Next year, when Jia Tianlong and the others came, they wouldn't need to bring so much money. After all, the volume of 10,000 yuan in a stack of 100-yuan bills is completely different from that in a stack of 10,000-yuan bills.

Having earned this much money, Li Long was actually a bit numb and didn't feel particularly excited. In fact, he didn't feel as thrilled as when he earned a hundred or so yuan selling fish.

But for Chen Hongjun, earning more than 10,000 yuan at once was incredibly exciting.

That's almost a hundred months' salary for him, nearly ten years! Almost ten years' salary, now earned in less than two months, what does that even mean?
Before you receive the money, the numbers are already calculated and the difference isn't that big, but when you actually have the money in your own hands, the feeling is completely different.

So at noon, Chen Hongjun was able to hold back. After closing the shop, he took his employees to eat some noodles nearby. In the afternoon, seeing that no one came around 7 or 8 o'clock, he simply closed the shop early.

He slung his black backpack full of money over his shoulder, went to the beef and mutton shop in the market to buy a lamb rib, and then went to the braised meat shop next door to buy a big bag of braised cooked food before happily walking home.

His wife hadn't come home from get off work yet, so Chen Hongjun put the black bag in the inner room, locked the door, and went to the kitchen to get busy. He first cut the braised meat into pieces and arranged them on a plate, then chopped up the lamb ribs, poured water into the pot, and started cooking.

How long has it been since I ate hand-pulled mutton like this?
Back when we worked at the county purchasing station, there was a slush fund, and everyone received a considerable bonus, so we could always afford to have a few good meals during holidays.

But after returning here, I only received a fixed salary. I was thinking of saving money to buy a yard and then a house, so I had to be very careful with every penny I spent. Although I could eat some meat during holidays, I had never eaten such a large piece of meat before.

Li Long paid for the new courtyard. Although Li Long's words sounded noble, Chen Hongjun knew that his role wasn't actually that significant. Li Long valued relationships highly, and Chen Hongjun hadn't misjudged him.

Now that he's on this path himself and has made money, Chen Hongjun's first thought is to have a good meal at home.

Chen Hongjun's mother was mending clothes in her room when she heard the noise outside. She came out and saw her son busy in the kitchen, so she came to help. Seeing the meat in the pot, she paused for a moment and asked, "Hongjun, is something wrong today?"

"It's nothing, we just made some money, so we're going to treat our family to something nice."

"Why don't you just buy a piece of meat and cook it? You bought lamb ribs and braised meat, how much money did that cost? Our family already has a heavy burden..."

"Mom, it's okay, I can earn money now. This purchasing station makes more in a month than I used to make in a whole year!" Chen Hongjun didn't mention the exact amount, but just made a comparison, "From now on, we can afford to eat lamb chops every day!"

"Is it really that profitable? Could it be illegal?" Chen Hongjun's mother was not happy to hear this, but worried.

"It's alright, these things are encouraged by the higher-ups," Chen Hongjun explained to his mother with a smile. "Many people who opened purchasing stations earlier earn more than me! I'm actually doing poorly!"

The old lady was relieved and said to Chen Hongjun:
"You've had a long day, take a shower and rest. I'll take care of things here."

"Okay, Mom, you go ahead with your work. I'll go tidy up the house."

Chen Hongjun went back into the house and started counting the money.

We need to set aside working capital; given the current situation, we should set aside at least 30,000.

The remaining ten thousand yuan or so is the profit. Based on the shareholding ratio between myself and Li Long, I will take about seven thousand yuan, and Li Long will take four thousand yuan.

After calculating, Chen Hongjun piled all the money together. He planned to keep it as working capital and then calculate the profit sharing between the two of them after the entire fritillary bulb season ended.

When his wife and children returned home, they were delighted to smell the meat in the yard. Their joy was even more palpable when they learned that the purchasing station had made money.

After all, taking unpaid leave is a real risk. Although Chen Hongjun kept saying that the purchasing station was doing well and that they were buying a lot of things, he hadn't brought any money home, which made his wife quite uneasy.

Now that there are lamb chops and braised meat all at once, my family believes me.

When Chen Hongjun took out the money to show his wife that evening, she was shocked!

No matter how hard you try, you can't imagine making so much money! Although Chen Hongjun explained that most of it was kept as working capital and a small portion of the remainder was to be given to Li Long, his wife was still so excited that she couldn't speak while holding the money!
Wow, so much money! I couldn't earn this much in years! Life is going to be so much better from now on!
(End of this chapter)