Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1126 Year-End Closing Ceremony, Old Chen's Dividend
Gu Boyuan noticed that all the vendors were looking at the bag of waste water, so he took a break and had a drink.

Li Long stepped back in and stood in front of the counter. Gu Boyuan spat out a tea stalk, put down his teacup, and said:

"More than 20 tons of wastewater? If it's one yuan per kilogram, these people would be disposed of in less than a month."

"It might not even take a month." Li Long said with a smile as he listened to the discussions outside, "Putting twenty tons into the big market won't make much of a splash."

It's important to know that these traffickers are active in more than just Ma County.

There are also routes from Shicheng, Huxian, and even directly to Beiting.

This area is so large, covering hundreds of thousands of people. If we were to promote it, how much wastewater would it consume?
How much of a splash can this make?

It's definitely not big.

“If it’s cheap enough, they’ll have the incentive to do it.” Gu Boyuan nodded. “Anyway, we can’t spare any people to handle this, so we might as well just wholesale it cheaply. Apples are a good example; they sell quickly and haven’t frozen.”

Li Long nodded; that was exactly what he was thinking.

Outside, the bag of sewage had already been seen by others. Some people didn't even realize their hands were dirty and were still holding it, while others didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

"That's right, no water was added, it was frozen directly in the water." This person was experienced and could tell just by touching and looking at it: "It's all from the water, and it's very fresh."

“I think it’s been washed very clean, the intestines don’t smell of feces, and the tripe is very clean too,” another person said. “This kind of offal sells very quickly, it’s all clean, the real deal.”

"One yuan, that's really cheap! I thought it might be leftover stock or rotten stuff. It looks fresh, it must have been recently slaughtered. Good stuff, I want a bag!"

"This bag must weigh forty or fifty kilograms, you're taking it all by yourself?"

"What else? Buy them, thaw them, set them up at the crossroads in our village, and they'll be sold out in no time." The man, extremely confident, carried the bag to the doorway and said to Li Long:
"Mr. Li, I'll take this bag. Shall we weigh it now?"

"Yes, let's move on now."

Li Long was surprised that the business opened so quickly, and said with a smile:

"Come, come, here..."

The bag of water weighed a full fifty kilograms. Li Long thought that this might have been weighed by someone specifically when Liu Shanmin was collecting this stuff.

The man paid fifty yuan, then put the bag of water on the back of his bicycle, secured it with a clip, pushed it out of the recycling station, and rode away.

Li Long vaguely remembered that this person lived in Liangzhou, not far from here. He didn't know if this person was going to carry it back to sell, or to resell it in the old street or market.

Once there's a first one, there's bound to be a second. These middlemen are driven by profit, and now that there's something to gain, they're all very eager. They rush to sell their goods to Gu Boyuan and then try to get some from Li Long.

"Hey, Old Kong, you're being really generous today. I remember every time you came to sell something, you always had to haggle with me over the price. But today is great, whatever I say is what you pay for." Gu Boyuan teased a vendor.

"Well, you have some good stuff at home, so I'll generously sell it to you. Just make sure the scale is high for me later, and you'll get everything you need." Old Kong was a seasoned pro, and he said what was on his mind right away.

"That won't do. I'm giving you a fair price, so you have to be fair when you buy things from here too." Gu Boyuan joked, "The business belongs to my son-in-law. I need to use the little I earn to buy candy for my grandson. I can't let you get it for free!"

Old Kong, thick-skinned as ever, said directly:

"If you can give me a discount and charge me a higher price, I might even call you grandpa!"

"Get lost! I don't have a grandson as big as you!" Old Gu didn't expect Old Kong to be so shameless. He laughed and scolded, "If you keep acting so irresponsibly, I won't sell you anything!"

The conversation between the shameless Lao Kong and Lao Gu brought some laughter to the courtyard. In just a short while, five bags of offal, totaling 250 kilograms, were sold.

The remaining people were envious, but couldn't afford it. They were selling their surplus belongings. These bags of waste were sold one bag at a time, costing fifty yuan each, and they simply didn't have any on hand.

Li Long had no choice; the water was frozen solid. If he thawed it and then froze it again, the quality would be different.

Therefore, he can only engage in wholesale.

"If you want to buy some, go back and discuss it with your neighbors. Several families can buy it together, and then divide it up when you get back," Old Gu said, full of ideas. "Anyway, there are still quite a few left, and they shouldn't be sold out in three to five days."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back and find someone right now!" someone immediately agreed and hurriedly left.

"Hmm, judging from this, these twenty-odd tons of wastewater might sell faster than expected." Gu Boyuan hadn't expected the cheap wastewater to be so popular.

No matter how much it goes into the water, it's still meat.

People here aren't picky eaters; they'll eat anything, as long as it's meat.

Just as Gu Boyuan said, in less than ten days, more than half of the twenty-odd tons of wastewater were gone, and some of the wastewater came from people who had heard about it.

"Thanks to Shuangcheng mentioning that the waste was imported when he was selling it, the person originally planned to buy two bags, but ended up buying four bags instead." Gu Boyuan said with a smile at the lunch table, "Now, many people think that foreign products are better, and they even think that this waste is better than domestic ones."

He picked up a slice of tripe with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing as he said, "I feel it's not as good as the ones in China. The tripe I got from Lao Ma's place is much more fragrant than this."

"The cattle and sheep over there on the Old Horse ship are fed with feed," Li Long said with a smile. "They must be fed dozens of tons of sugar residue. Naturally, the cattle and sheep fed that feed will be fatter, and fatter cattle and sheep taste better."

"Doesn't the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic provide feed?" Gu Xiaoxia asked.

"We can't feed them. They're short of food right now, so where would they get so much feed for their livestock? They mainly eat grass. Their grasslands are vast, so it's easy to find grass and feed them."

"With such a large area, how could there be a food shortage?" Sister Yang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Think back seven or eight years ago, weren't we also short of food?" Gu Boyuan asked.

“…That’s true.” Sister Yang immediately understood what was going on.

"Moreover, they also suffered from disasters and food shortages. International grain traders raised grain prices and stopped selling them low-priced grain, so many people in their country went hungry," Li Long explained.

He mentioned Sister Yang to Gu Boyuan, who immediately denied it, saying it was absolutely impossible.

So they stopped talking about it after that. Perhaps because of the question, Gu Boyuan was a little embarrassed and didn't speak to Sister Yang for more than a week before he felt better.

Li Long's statement was half based on evidence and half found online later. He said that at the time, international grain traders, especially the Americans, raised grain prices and even refused to sell grain to the Soviet Union when food shortages and disasters were frequent in the Soviet republics.

And this also reflects the influence of China, as grain from this region is not transported there.

As a result, widespread discontent arose within the Soviet Union due to food shortages, and coupled with various other factors, it eventually collapsed.

It's true that many people are not getting enough to eat.

In any case, the offal is selling very quickly, which is a good thing. Twenty-odd tons is only a little over 20,000 yuan, which isn't a lot.

But this is a good approach, stable and sustainable throughout the winter.

On November 20th, Zhao Hui came over; he was there to get skin removed.

Zhao Hui called Li Long before he arrived to tell him that the price of leather had increased significantly this year.

Li Long knew the reason; in fact, he knew it even without Zhao Hui saying it. Not only Zhao Hui, but other businessmen also contacted him, wanting the hides from him.

“Mr. Zhao, if you don’t come soon, we really won’t be able to keep these hides.” Li Long led Zhao Hui into the meeting room and said, half-jokingly, “Three people have already called me wanting the hides I have here.”

Zhao Hui said with a beaming smile, "I knew you were a man of your word, Mr. Li. Don't worry, I know about the price increase of leather this year, and I've already told you. There's a shortage of leather right now, and the leather factories are running low on those precious hides. Trust me, I definitely won't treat you unfairly!"

The reason for the rise in fur prices is the introduction of the Animal Protection Law. Although the enforcement varies across provinces and localities, the level of publicity and awareness is at least sufficient.

Some people know that hunting animals like gazelles and wolves is no longer allowed, so leather factories naturally run out of stock, which in turn leads to higher raw material prices.

“Now even scrap leather costs over a hundred,” Zhao Hui sighed. “A few years ago, you could buy scrap leather for twenty or thirty yuan at a time. Who would have thought it would be this price now?” Li Long knew that this price wouldn’t last long; leather factories in China really wouldn’t thrive for many more years. Of course, he wasn’t referring to the Jiangnan shoe factories, but at least the leather factories in their county would gradually reduce production and eventually close down.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Luckily, these hides were imported from overseas, otherwise I wouldn't have so many," Li Long said.

Every period has its own characteristics. Although the Animal Protection Law has been promulgated nationwide, it will take some time for it to be implemented. However, since the beginning of winter this year, there have been some people selling fur, but not many.

I don't know if it's related to this.

Zhao Hui brought his car with him. Li Long had more than two thousand hides, and he wanted to buy them all.

Most of the pieces are damaged skins, totaling over 1,500 pieces, while over 700 pieces are complete skins.

Actually, most of the full-leather items are from China; the leather that Liu Gaolou sent were mostly damaged pieces. There's no way around it; when hunting with a submachine gun, getting a full-leather item is a real feat.

At previous prices, these hides would have cost around 100,000 yuan.

But now even a scrap of skin can sell for over 100,000!
The price is a bit scary!

"There's no way around it. Wild hides are becoming increasingly scarce, so the competition is getting fiercer. They might even become more expensive in a while."

Li Long felt it couldn't possibly be any more expensive; the price was already insane.

"This leather is badly damaged!" Although Zhao Hui intended to take all the leather and give Li Long a reasonable price, he couldn't help but say when he saw a piece of leather with seven holes on it, "It's such a pity about this leather... It can't be used to make clothes, and it will have to be carefully cut to make gloves."

Li Long laughed and said, "There's nothing we can do. They hunt with submachine guns over there, so don't expect any really good leather. At least there's this much."

"It's just that the quantity is large," Zhao Hui sighed, and finally signed the bill with Li Long.

These hides sold for 270,000, that's really shocking!
Li Long's cost was very low, and he made a profit of about 170,000 to 180,000 yuan.

That's a lot of money.

This year has been very fruitful.

While Zhao Hui had his hired men load the leather, he asked Li Long about the car.

"It was also brought in from abroad." Li Long, assuming he had his eye on the black Volga, asked, "So, what do you think? Do you like it?"

"Of course I like it! It's such a beautiful car, much better looking than the Santana. But it must be very expensive, right?"

"It's a bit cheaper than a Santana," Li Long said with a smile. "How about it? I'll give you a discount if you want it?"

"Forget it, forget it," Zhao Hui refused without even thinking. "My little business is nothing compared to Lao Jia's. He's rich and powerful, he can buy whatever he wants. I've put all my capital into leather this time, I don't have much money left, so I won't buy it."

He touched the Volkswagen's black and cold body and sighed, "It's a good car, but it's a pity I can't afford to drive it. I just bought a minivan to haul goods, and I can also carry people sometimes. I'm content."

Li Long was well aware that Zhao Hui's family wealth was not much less than Jia Tianlong's, but since he didn't want to buy, he naturally wouldn't force him.

Besides, this Volga is practically a new car, so he couldn't possibly offer it for much less. Even with a friendly price, it would still cost over 100,000.

Moreover, his relationship with Zhao Hui is not as good as Jia Tianlong's.

Let's just leave it for now. It's a good car anyway, and we can always switch between driving it.

Zhao Hui was in a hurry to get back and collect the money, so he left without eating. Anyway, he wouldn't miss a bite to eat and could just eat on the way.

Li Long didn't insist on keeping him; once he left, there weren't many things left in the warehouse.

Over the years, they've gained experience running these purchasing stations. If some items can't be sold, they'll buy less of them.

The warehouse currently contains a small amount of watermelon seeds, which were collected after Bai Xiuming took them away. There are some medicinal herbs, mainly Codonopsis pilosula, which were left behind after Jia Tianlong took the goods away. There are also some miscellaneous items, which were collected in previous years but had nowhere to be sold.

Although there's nowhere to sell them, they weren't thrown away as trash. These things all have their uses. For example, some antiques collected from private individuals, and some things that look like scrap metal, can be bought as collectibles in a few years.

Let's just leave it here for now.

After Zhao Hui left, Li Long gave Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng a bonus of 100 yuan each. Liang Shuangcheng had already given 200 yuan for buying the yard, so this was his bonus for this occasion.

Gu Boyuan also received a dividend of 10,000 yuan. This time, a significant portion of the leather was purchased by the purchasing station, so Gu Boyuan felt perfectly justified in accepting the money.

I have to pay taxes again.

Although it was November, Li Long felt that this year was pretty much over.

In early December, Old Chen Hongjun came over. He called ahead to discuss the profit-sharing with Li Long, and Li Long naturally had no objections.

Chen Hongjun went to the purchasing station, and Li Long entertained him in the reception room.

"Not bad, you even have apples to eat here in the dead of winter." Chen Hongjun took an apple, took a bite, and said with a smile, "You're living in really good conditions!"

"I bought a batch of apples from Yili last time, and there aren't many left. They're in the cellar. Some are frozen, but some are still pretty good," Li Long said with a smile. "I'll take some back with me when I leave."

“Sure,” Old Chen readily agreed, “but let’s get down to business first.”

As he spoke, he took out a notebook and began to tell Li Long about this year's acquisitions and sales.

Li Long owns 35% of Lao Chen's purchasing station. This year, after paying taxes, his station's net profit for the whole year was more than 70,000 yuan, which was after one dividend distribution.

This year-end bonus will amount to 23,000 yuan for Li Long.

"The taxes are really high, it hurts me to see them," Old Chen said as he counted the bills for Li Long. "But we can't not pay them."

"Your taxes are alright, but the ones you're paying are really painful, right?" Li Long joked. "Look, I didn't do anything, and a third of the profits are already in my hands. Doesn't that hurt?"

"No, not at all." Chen Hongjun pushed three stacks of hundred-yuan bills and thirty more bills he had counted out in front of Li Long and said sincerely, "Let me tell you, Li, if it weren't for you providing enough funds, my purchasing station wouldn't have been able to survive at all."

After Li Long took the money, he asked:

"Do you know how many purchasing stations Beiting has opened this year?"

"How many? I remember you said your former colleague opened one?"

"Yeah, including his shop and mine, we've opened seven in total!"

"So many?" Li Long was genuinely surprised. How could such a small place like Beiting have so many branches?
"Yes, there were seven in total, but only two are still operating now," Chen Hongjun said. "The other five basically closed down because they couldn't keep up with the demand and had too much unsold inventory. The other one that's still open has a relative who works at a bank, so they can get a loan."

"If you hadn't invested enough capital initially, I wouldn't have been able to keep going, and we wouldn't have so much money to distribute as dividends now!"

Old Chen spoke sincerely, so Li Long naturally had no objections.

Old Chen envied Li Long's cars, but he didn't have the money to buy them and didn't even mention it. After the profit sharing ended, Li Long invited him to the Big Meat Restaurant for dinner. Manager Zhong was still there and was very surprised to see Li Long and Chen Hongjun come together.

"Old Chen, long time no see! I didn't expect you to come back. You should have told me sooner, I would have come to see you." Zhong Guoqiang and Chen Hongjun had a good relationship, and his face showed a pleasant surprise.

Then he greeted Li Long as well. Li Long would occasionally have guests and eat at his place, but as time went on, Li Long's status changed, and their relationship wasn't as close as before.

Of course, after actually meeting them, remembering those past events still made me quite happy. Zhong Guoqiang led the two to a private room upstairs, saying he was treating them to dinner; after all, old friends meeting should celebrate with a drink.

Old Chen was happy because he gave Li Long a share of the profits, and he himself also made a lot of money, so he could be considered to have made a name for himself. Li Long was happy because the year was almost over, and he calculated that he had earned a net profit of about 1.5 million yuan this year. After paying some taxes, the remaining amount was still over a million yuan.

I've easily made a millionaire in a year, how could I not be happy?
Let's celebrate together!

(End of this chapter)