Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1134 Old Wei who wants to buy a car, and Old Hu who wants to go abroad.
While Bai Xiuming and the others were eating, Li Long, Liu Gaolou, and the drivers drove to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The supply and marketing cooperative was already open for business. Li Long greeted the gatekeeper and then led them to the purchasing station.

When Bai Xiuming and Wei Mancang arrived at the purchasing station with their vehicle, they found that things were being unloaded, but Li Long was not there.

Li Long took the truck to the courtyard to unload the antelope horns.

"When I first came here, I felt that this purchasing station didn't seem like it could support a big business. Now it seems that I came at the wrong time," Wei Mancang sighed, looking at the drivers and temporary workers unloading the goods.

Bai Xiuming drove the car back and showed it to him, and he was immediately interested. Although there were quite a few cars in their city, cars this cheap were rare.

He inspected the car and found it to be in excellent condition.

If he could trade shoes for a car, he would naturally want to do it. Currently, the shoe factory faces fierce competition, sales are low, and there's a significant backlog of unsold inventory.

It was relatively easy for him to get a truckload of shoes, and he got them for a price that was even cheaper than Bai Xiuming's.

After Bai Xiuming repeatedly assured them, the two of them brought over a truckload of goods, full of joy, only to find that they had come to nothing.

Although there was indeed a brand-new Lada sedan and a van parked in the recycling station, which showed that the recycling station was not ordinary.

But when Wei Mancang saw the dozen or so people at the entrance of the purchasing station every day, he felt that something was amiss.

Furthermore, with Li Long absent, and Lao Gu unlikely to give in easily, Wei Mancang became somewhat suspicious.

It wasn't until he saw so many trucks unloading that Wei Mancang realized that the big business people do is not something that is easily seen in ordinary times, and what he had seen before was just the daily performance.

In Wei Mancang's own imagination, the daily acquisitions were just a cover, and the "real" business that Li Long was doing was actually being carried in the truck.

Those who can do international business are all big shots these days. Wei Mancang, who was originally skeptical, immediately decided to win over this young Mr. Li.

After unloading three truckloads of water and one truckload of leather, and pulling the empty truck out, Bai Xiuming, without waiting for instructions from those inside, told his driver to drive the truck in and unload the shoes directly.

At this moment, Wei Mancang's mind was filled with thoughts of that brand-new Volga.

He had originally set his sights on the new Lada. But compared to this Volga, the Lada simply didn't stand out.

Liang Shuangcheng was using a brush and stick to clean the snow off the Volga. Seeing this customer, who had been there several times before, examining the new car so carefully, he wondered if he had taken a liking to it again.

Li Long came over, chatted with Bai Xiuming for a bit, and told them to start unloading while he settled the bill with Liu Gaolou.

The delivered goods and sugar are handled separately, otherwise they can easily get mixed up.

"Two thousand pairs of antelope horns, sixty thousand yuan." Li Long and Liu Gaolou were very casual with their calculations this time. "Two thousand hides, I'm not counting damaged hides or whole hides, average price eighty..."

"Why is it eighty? Did the price go up?" Liu Gaolou asked, somewhat surprised.

“Well, the last person who bought the hides said the price has gone up,” Li Long said. “I’ll naturally adjust the price according to the market; I can’t keep losing money on you guys.”

"Hey, that's a good deal." Liu Gaolou smiled. Actually, the things he brought from over there were in high demand, and if you wanted to buy them, there were plenty of people willing to buy them.

His second uncle had already decided on Li Long, so Liu Gaolou naturally had no objections. Of course, ever since he was able to get shoes and sugar from Li Long, Liu Gaolou had even fewer objections. He could sell a lot of things, but buying large quantities of scarce supplies was not so easy.

Instead of spending time and energy exploring a new path, it's better to stick to the current one—it's safer. Most importantly, Uncle Er has made up his mind about Li Long.

In retrospect, I wasn't wrong.

"As for the offloading, these three trucks have a total of twenty tons. As you can see, I sell it here for one yuan per kilogram, so I can't give you a high price for these twenty tons of offloading. It's ten thousand yuan. So, that's two hundred and thirty thousand yuan, right?"

“Yes.” Liu Gaolou nodded.

"Finally, let's talk about the car you drove back," Li Long said. "This car..."

"Don't talk to me about this car. I can't make that decision. Just do what my second uncle told you." Liu Gaolou waved his hand. "My second uncle made it clear that this car is your responsibility. I won't get involved."

That's about it for the money. Now it's our turn. I brought eight trucks this time, enough to haul away at least fifty tons of sugar. Sugar prices have risen sharply since winter started, and based on the current price in Kazakhstan, I can offer you $50,000.

Liu Gaolou said, "My uncle will give you $30,000 now. The remaining $20,000 will be deducted at a 1:5 ratio, which is $100,000. You just need to give me $130,000."

“Okay, no problem.” Li Long was naturally willing.

"Also, I saw you talking to those two people today, and I saw the shoes they brought over. I'll definitely take those shoes away too. If it's the same as last time, I'll deduct from that amount as well."

"Give me a fair answer, and I'll be frank with you. Shoes are currently in short supply in Kazakhstan because winter is coming. Although Kazakhstan has its own shoe factories, the supply to the public is limited, so prices are bound to go up. But I can't give you a specific price right now; I can only offer you the price of the last shipment. How about that?"

The previous truckload of shoes cost $12,000, averaging $3 per pair, for a total of 4,000 pairs. If converted to RMB, that's about 60,000 yuan for the two of them combined. Therefore, Li Long only needs to pay Liu Gaolou 70,000 yuan.

Thirty thousand US dollars! He really didn't expect sugar prices to rise so high.

Of course, the higher the price, the better for him. It's better for this stuff to flow to the other side than to the south.

Li Long brought money with him, quite a lot, of course. He counted out seven stacks of bills and took the $30,000. Li Long then asked Liu Gaolou to sit down, as he still needed to talk to Bai Xiuming and the others.

Old Wei hadn't had enough of looking at that Volga yet, so Bai Xiuming stayed with him in the freezing cold, stamping his feet every now and then, because it was damn cold!

Old Wei was dressed even less warmly than him, so how come he wasn't afraid of getting cold?
"This car is really good!" Old Wei exclaimed as he looked at it. "After seeing this car, yours can't compare."

Bai Xiuming waved his hand: "How much is my car? How much is this car?"

He told Lao Wei that he had spent 78,000 yuan to buy the car, but he didn't tell the truth. He originally thought that Lao Wei would buy his car, but he didn't expect Lao Wei to come and buy a new one.

"Go ahead and buy it. Anyway, I've already communicated with Li Long, so I'm not afraid of being exposed."

"That's true. A car like this, so new, must cost at least 100,000 yuan," Old Wei sighed. "If I poured all my savings into it, I could probably buy this car."

He spoke in a rather pitiful tone, but Bai Xiuming didn't believe him at all. Although Old Wei entered this industry later than him, he earned much more, and much more easily.

If we were to use a modern term, Old Wei would be considered a student from a small town, as you can tell from his name. He was a farmer's son who took the college entrance exam, but after graduation, he encountered some bad times and was sent to different places for reform and re-education.

After the reform and opening up, having witnessed the fickleness of human nature and worked in many different organizations, he simply stopped working in those organizations and went into business as a middleman, introducing raw materials to manufacturers and finished products to raw material manufacturers.

He built his business around like that, and his family's wealth is definitely much greater than his.

Even with this whole truckload of shoes, the ones I bought were cheaper than the ones I bought myself.

There's nothing I can do; they have the channels and connections, so I can only watch.

Fortunately, Lao Wei also said that regardless of whether the deal goes through or not, he would give him 500 yuan as a referral fee.

Five hundred yuan! That's several months' salary for me. Anyway, we've already bought most of the raw materials, so Bai Xiuming took leave and came with Lao Wei.

"What, Mr. Wei, you've taken a fancy to this car?" Li Long asked with a smile. "Want it?"

"This car is really beautiful." Wei Mancang made no attempt to hide his admiration. "I'm just afraid I can't afford it."

Li Long asked with a smile:

"You brought in shoes again this time? How many pairs?"

"We've doubled it," Bai Xiuming said. "Two thousand pairs of cotton-padded leather shoes and six thousand pairs of cotton-padded rubber shoes. The shoe sizes are all the same as last time, you see..."

“The top price is the same,” Li Long said. “With a little extra money, you can get the Lada. As for this Volga—Boss Wei, let me tell you this, Manager Bai and I have been through thick and thin together, so I’ll be honest with you.”

"Don't call me Boss Wei, I'm not really a boss," Wei Mancang hurriedly said. "I'm older than you, if you don't mind, call me Brother, or you can call me Old Wei."

“Well then, Brother Wei, I’ll be frank.” Li Long pointed to the Volga and said, “This was given to my superior by a friend in the Soviet Union, so you can figure out the condition of this vehicle yourself.”

Wei Mancang suddenly realized, thinking to himself, "No wonder, it looks just like a new car."

“But my boss doesn’t want it. He’s a high-ranking official, has his own car, and is mindful of his image. He also feels it’s unnecessary to accept something for nothing, so the car is with me.” “So, you can handle the car now?” Wei Mancang’s eyes lit up.

"Yes, but as you know, this car won't be cheap."

"So... how expensive can it be? Tell me."

"I'll add another 100,000 to these shoes," Li Long quoted a high price, then waited for him to haggle. In Li Long's mind, these shoes were worth 50,000, so adding another 100,000 would make it 150,000.

If Wei Mancang really wants it, he should be willing to spend 150,000 yuan to buy a car that looks more luxurious than the Santana.

Of course, if he really wants it, he can bargain and get a discount of ten or twenty thousand.

Wei Mancang stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and asked:

"Are all the paperwork complete?"

"It's complete. If you're interested, I'll show it to you now. You can also test drive the car and see what's inside."

Li Long had the keys, so he unlocked the car and let Wei Mancang inspect it. Then he asked Liang Shuangcheng to retrieve the car's paperwork.

Wei Mancang got into the car, did a thorough inspection, and even started the engine to listen to the sound.

They checked the hood and trunk, and even the tires. By the time the inspection was finished, Liang Shuangcheng had already brought over the paperwork.

After inspecting the car, Wei Mancang wiped his hands with the towel Liang Shuangcheng had used to wipe the car, then took the documents and began to look at them.

After the inspection, Wei Mancang sighed:

"Mr. Li, you've really given me a tough problem."

“How can you call it a problem? If you’re short on money but still want a car, you see that car over there? It’s a Lada, a new one too. Add a few of these shoes, and you can drive it away.” Li Long smiled.

“With this Volga, I really don’t need the Narada anymore,” Wei Mancang said.

He also had his own considerations. As a real estate agent, having a luxury car as a facade would make some small business owners more trusting of him.

As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha. For a small business owner, owning a luxury car is a sign of power and influence.

As for the bigger bosses, wouldn't we have to get to know them all? Just like how, in a few years, those bosses with status will get a mobile phone.

“Since you’ve got your eye on it, let’s buy it,” Li Long laughed. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To be honest, my partner is quite capricious. After this Volga, I can’t be sure what he’ll be hauling next.”

As you can see, we have Ladas, GAZ-69s, and vans here. Who knows what kind of vehicles will be brought next?

His words essentially made a decision for Wei Mancang, and Wei Mancang nodded immediately:
"Okay, I'll take this one, but I don't have enough cash with me this time, so you'll have to wait two days."

"Sure," Li Long said with a smile. "Can I take the shoes first?"

“Okay.” Wei Mancang was naturally happy to agree; he had brought the shoes over to exchange for the car.

All are happy.

Li Long immediately ordered people to help unload the shoes. Actually, it wasn't unloading; they were actually moving the shoes from one vehicle to the other.

Wei Mancang and Bai Xiuming went to the county post office to call their hometown to arrange a wire transfer.

Li Long then went to find Liu Gaolou, who was resting in the reception room, and told him about the shoes.

"You mean there are twice as many shoes as last time?"

"Yes, so you might have to overload these trucks, otherwise you might not be able to fit fifty tons of sugar."

"Don't worry, there are twice as many shoes as before, this money..."

"Don't worry about the money. I traded it for the car you brought over. I'll give you some more money later, and then we'll be even."

"No, please. I'll take the shoes first. Don't give me the money yet. Let me take them back and talk to my uncle about it, and then we'll talk about the sugar." Liu Gaolou said, "Let's get the shoes sorted out first, and then we can talk about the sugar."

"Okay." Anyway, things are already tangled up, so there's no point in trying to figure it out.

It was already afternoon when they finished their business. Li Long took them to eat, and after eating, Liu Gaolou and the others went to the guesthouse to rest. They made an appointment with Li Long to go to the sugar factory early the next morning.

Li Long returned to the courtyard, tidied up his Volga, and then covered it with a tarpaulin.

When Gu Xiaoxia came home from get off work in the evening, she brought Mingming and Haohao with her. The two children were very happy because kindergarten was about to have a holiday.

Han Fang has also returned, but junior high school hasn't started its summer break yet, so she still has to go to school for a few more days.

After finishing with the car, Li Long went to work in the greenhouse. When Gu Xiaoxia returned, Sister Yang was cooking. Knowing that Li Long was busy with the vegetables in the greenhouse, she washed her hands and went to the kitchen to help with the cooking. Mingming and Haohao happily went to the greenhouse to help their father.

The meal was ready, and the lights in the greenhouse were already on. Li Long tidied up the vegetable garden, which he hadn't tended to much since he went out a few days ago, watered it, and set the stove on fire. He planned to uncover the greenhouse tomorrow so the vegetables could get some sunshine.

"Alright, stop playing in the mud," Gu Xiaoxia said when she came in. The greenhouse was warm and cozy. Mingming and Haohao were each holding a lump of mud and shaping it into a bowl, competing to throw it at the ground. Their clothes and faces were covered in mud.

Gu Xiaoxia looked angry, even though she had already pointed to an even bigger one next to her and said:
"My dad taught us how to play!"

Li Long, who was watering the plants over there, chuckled in exasperation upon hearing this: "Hey, you're so young and you already know how to use me as a pot! You little rascal, I'm not teaching you how to play anymore!"

"No, no, Dad, please don't!" Mingming panicked a little and begged for mercy first, then said to Gu Xiaoxia, "Mom, my brother and I begged Dad to teach us!"

Hao Hao acted like a good boy the whole time, just blinking his big eyes and not saying a word.

Gu Xiaoxia, who had been angry, was no longer angry. She pretended to be stern and said:

"Alright, hurry up and wash your hands and come out to eat. Oh, and go change your clothes before you eat!"

Li Long thinks it's pretty good that the two children can already change their own clothes.

"You should wash your hands and get ready to eat too." Gu Xiaoxia said to Li Long, who was sitting in the greenhouse, while holding one child in each hand. "Take your time with the work. Do you have any work to do these next few days?"

"Yeah, I have to go to the sugar factory again tomorrow." Li Long carried the bucket over, placed it against the wall, rubbed his hands together and said, "Alright, that's about it. Just press down the furnace before going to bed tonight."

After a busy day, Li Long didn't do much after dinner. He coaxed the two children to sleep and then lay in bed telling Gu Xiaoxia about the day's events.

"You mean you need to talk to the sugar factory again tomorrow about letting them go to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic? Do you have to make another trip?"

"I don't want to run anymore." Li Long hugged Gu Xiaoxia, lay on the bed, looked at the ceiling, shook his head and said, "After scouting the way, I found that Liu Shanmin's side is reliable, so I can rest assured."

"That would be best." Gu Xiaoxia leaned against Li Long's chest and said softly, "You've gone there twice in less than a month. I'm not at ease when you're not here."

Li Long laughed. This is a sign of insecurity.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long drove his jeep to the guesthouse to pick up Liu Gaolou, and then took the truck to the Shicheng Sugar Factory.

The security guards at the sugar factory were already familiar with Li Long, so they automatically recorded his name and let him through.

After parking the car, Liu Gaolou didn't go upstairs; Li Long went directly to Section Chief Hu.

Upon hearing Li Long say he needed fifty tons of white sugar, Section Chief Hu immediately shook his head:
“Xiao Li, it’s not that I disagree, it’s just that I really don’t have that much authority. Even with the original twenty tons, I only agreed because it could be exchanged for some US dollars. Now you want fifty tons all at once…”

"I've already made arrangements on my end, and I can send you the invitations before the end of the month," Li Long said calmly. "A five-day visit to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, how does that sound?"

"Really?" Section Chief Hu's eyes lit up. "If it's really confirmed, then these fifty tons... it's not impossible to discuss..."

PS: Thank you to reader Crocodile Tears L for the huge donation, and thank you to readers Really No Such Person, 160903133012696, Remember You Love Him, Sleeping Little Six Wolves, For the Small Fishing Village of 1982, and others for their donations. Thank you everyone!
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(End of this chapter)