Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1135 A New Method of Meat Jerky Processing, and Excuses for Not Going to Kazakhstan

Section Chief Hu thought it was feasible, but he still needed to discuss it with his superiors. After all, fifty tons of white sugar, although the sugar factory had the autonomy to do so, and the higher authorities had not stipulated that it could not be sold overseas, still required procedures.

Li Long came out to wait, but Section Chief Hu asked him to stay in his office. Li Long felt it was best to avoid any appearance of impropriety, so he went to the conference room instead.

Anyway, the meeting room was heated, and he wasn't as stubborn as Liu Gaolou, feeling there was no need to wrong himself.

A dozen minutes later, Section Chief Hu rushed over, a hint of excitement on his face, and said to Li Long:

"It's approved, the leader has approved it. By the way, could we list a few more people on the invitation? Could we include family members? We've counted eight... Is that alright?"

Li Long thought to himself, "So much more all at once? But it should be fine. Anyway, whether it's one sheep or two, it's all the same. I figure Liu Shanmin won't mind for these fifty tons of sugar."

"In principle, yes, but regarding the white sugar in the future..." Li Long said with a smile.

"In principle, it should be fifty tons each time... and cannot be exceeded," Section Chief Hu said with a smile.

"That's great." Li Long nodded. "So... shall we load the truck now?"

"Okay, let's go to the workshop. I'll go talk to them." Section Chief Hu was quite spirited; he and his wife were among the eight people!
There was nothing he could do; after all, he was the one who had fought for that invitation.
The two went downstairs. Section Chief Hu approved the invitation slip, and Li Long told Liu Gaolou about the number of people invited. Liu Gaolou had no objections.

In the end, his second uncle decided that he would definitely tell Li Long about the eight people and the fifty tons of sugar that Li Long mentioned.

After all, white sugar was really scarce at that time, both domestically and internationally. Only the area around Shicheng had a relatively abundant supply because of the presence of sugar factories.

There are also sugar factories in Yili, but their daily output is very small.

Although Li Long did not receive a definite answer from Liu Gaolou, he believed that Liu Shanmin would understand the relationship and would agree.

Loading fifty tons of sugar onto the truck was indeed considered overloading, but overloading was perfectly normal at this time, so the sugar factory didn't care, and neither did Liu Gaolou and his team.

After the installation was completed, Liu Gaolou said goodbye to Li Long and Section Chief Hu and left, while Li Long settled the bill there.

"I'll pay you $10,000 this time, and the rest will be paid in RMB," Li Long said. "Is that alright?"

“No problem, no problem,” Section Chief Hu said with a smile. “It’s more than I expected. Is it payment now? That’s good, that’s good. We’ll definitely need to spend US dollars this time…”

Li Long smiled and went with Section Chief Hu to the accounting department to pay the bill.

Because it was unplanned white sugar, even though it was fifty tons, Li Long still paid at the wholesale price. After all, it's not easy to buy such a large quantity on the market.

At this time, in the supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores of Ma County and Shicheng, it was possible to buy bulk white sugar without coupons, and it cost two yuan per kilogram.

However, Li Long didn't care. He bought it for two yuan and sold it for a much higher price, so there was no need to fight for that little bit of profit.

After receiving the $10,000 and 50,000 yuan in cash, Li Long took the receipt and told Section Chief Hu that he would bring the invitation letter to Section Chief Hu and the others when it arrived.

After finishing his business, Li Long drove back to the county, and Section Chief Hu hurriedly went to report to his superiors.

With this $10,000, their group of eight would have plenty of money to spend on shopping in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.

They were well aware that the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was different from Europe and America; it was not a developed country and the things they could buy were limited, but it was always good to have more on hand.

When Li Long returned to the courtyard, Sister Yang was feeding Mingming and Haohao. When she saw Li Long return, she let him have a taste as well.

Li Long took a handful and examined it closely; it turned out to be beef jerky cut into small pieces.

"There are so many scraps of this beef jerky, and I thought it would be a waste to let everyone take them all. So I was thinking of a new way to make use of them. In the end, I thought that although I couldn't make it into jerky, I could make it into beef chunks, which would be a good snack."

As Sister Yang spoke to Li Long, a hint of shyness in her smile suggested she was unsure if she was doing the right thing.

Li Long thought to himself, "Isn't this just making those beef cubes from later generations? Isn't this a great way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure?"

He immediately gave a thumbs up: "Great, absolutely a great idea! This idea alone deserves a 500 yuan bonus for you, Sister Yang!"

“There’s no need for a bonus. As long as you, Uncle, don’t think I’m giving you bad advice, that’s fine.” As soon as Sister Yang heard Li Long agree, her smile immediately brightened. “I’m a partner too, this is what I should do.”

“It deserves the award!” Li Long said with certainty. “To be honest, as you know, we always buy the best cuts of meat, but even so, there are still quite a few scraps left after braising.”

These scraps, unable to be cut into jerky strips, have to be distributed—for our own family, relatives' families, and even our employees' families. This waste is factored into the cost.

Although our dried meat business is quite profitable, the high costs naturally reduce our profits. Now that you've done this, the costs have decreased, and the profits will decrease significantly in the future.

Therefore, we must reward them! The more good ideas we have, the more money we can make!

As he spoke, Li Long took out five hundred yuan in cash and handed it to Sister Yang.

Sister Yang was a little embarrassed to accept it, but Li Long insisted that she accept it.

During dinner that evening, Li Long told Gu Boyuan and Gu Xiaoxia about it again. Gu Boyuan firmly stated that such an idea should be rewarded, as it fully demonstrates initiative and is a good thing.

"Big sister, look, you're smart and resourceful," Gu Xiaoxia said. "If we don't reward this kind of thing, others might not be able to share their good ideas in the future."

Confucius said that good deeds should be rewarded. He even criticized one of his disciples who was not recognized, saying that only by doing good deeds and being recognized and rewarded can more people be encouraged to do good deeds.

The same applies to yours. Tomorrow, you need to tell all the workshop employees about this recognition and award. Whoever has a good idea and uses it will be recognized and rewarded! This will motivate others to actively think of solutions.

Sister Yang blushed and said she would tell others.

"We'll send some over to Huang Lei and Zhao Hui. We won't send too many in the first batch, and we won't let them sell them. Consider it a sample for them to try," Li Long said. "We'll call it Old Li's Beef Cubes, and we'll wrap them in small paper, just like fruit candies."

"Okay, I'll go and take care of it tomorrow." Sister Yang was very enthusiastic after being praised by everyone. Although she didn't say it explicitly, her tone was much louder than usual.

The next day, after breakfast, Li Long went to the jerky processing workshop first, told them about how Sister Yang had been praised, and encouraged others to learn from her. Only then did he go to the purchasing station.

When he arrived at the recycling station, he noticed that the trucks were very clean, clearly having been sanitized. He figured Liang Shuangcheng must have done it. Li Long saw Liang Shuangcheng, asked him a question, and sure enough, it was him.

“I was thinking that since the car is about to be sold, the buyer will be in a better mood if they see that it’s brand new,” Liang Shuangcheng said with a shy smile.

"Well done!" Li Long nodded with a smile. It really was good; it was worth the bonuses he often received. He hadn't been at the purchasing station long when Bai Xiuming and Wei Mancang arrived with their bags.

"Brother Li, as soon as the money arrived via wire transfer today, I went to withdraw it and came over right away," Wei Mancang said with a beaming smile. "How was it? Did it take any longer than expected?"

"No, don't worry. Since I promised you, I definitely won't give this car to anyone else," Li Long said with a smile. "Once the money is in my account, the car is yours."

Wei Mancang opened the bag on the table, took out stacks of money, and pushed it in front of Li Long:
"Come on, Brother Li, count this. We're new brothers, so let's keep the accounts straight. This is 100,000 yuan, just withdrawn."

Li Long didn't pretend to be magnanimous. He checked the money stack by stack, and after confirming that everything was correct, he pushed the car keys and paperwork together in front of Wei Mancang.
"Cash on delivery. Here, Brother Wei, these are the paperwork. Oh, and here's the contract. Once we both sign, the car will be yours."

After signing the contract, Wei Mancang excitedly took the keys and went out to test drive the car.

After driving around the backyard twice, Wei Mancang got out and said with a smile:

"Okay, okay, that's great."

Both sides were satisfied. Wei Mancang was so eager to go back that he left with Bai Xiuming without even having lunch.

Before leaving, Bai Xiuming whispered to Li Long, "Is that Lada still the same price?"
Li Long smiled and nodded, and Bai Xiuming understood. He said he would bring another truckload of shoes over in a while, and they would talk about it then.

Li Long naturally had no objection, but he said that if the deadline was postponed to the end of January, the shoes might not be able to be sold.

Bai Xiuming naturally understood, and that's how the matter was settled.

The 100,000 yuan came in, which balanced out the money given to Liu Gaolou and the sugar factory, without losing too much.

However, Li Long understood that if the antelope horn business only generated income and didn't generate any output, it would definitely require a large sum of money to be spent later.

Fortunately, he had made a considerable amount of money in the US. He wondered if he should make a trip to Beijing and bring back some good stuff, otherwise, all those dollars would just sit there...

Huh? Li Long thought that if that big empire in the northwest were to collapse in a few years, the value of the US dollar would skyrocket, and he might be able to get even more good stuff then.

I reminded Liu Shanmin of this just a while ago, so why did I forget it when it came to myself?

I've calculated that I now have about $50,000, which is enough to do quite a lot.

Of course, that specific time is still several years away, and by then raising tens of thousands of US dollars shouldn't be a problem.

With so many US dollars in hand, I can buy some good stuff, stockpile it, and resell it; I should be able to make a good profit.

Li Long thought to himself with a smug satisfaction.

The next few days were relatively peaceful. By mid-January, the school was on holiday, and the house became lively.

Han Fang would occasionally take Mingming and Haohao out to play, while Li Long would focus on the greenhouse project.

Currently, greenhouses are still a novelty, but in less than two years, entire villages in Wucheng will start growing vegetables in greenhouses, and within two or three years, many households will be able to earn over 10,000 yuan a month, making it the number one village in northern Xinjiang.

Li Long didn't intend to get rich from this, but since he had this readily available food, he had to make sure he had enough to eat first.

On January 16th, Liu Gaolou returned with his vehicle again, this time not in a car, but in a truck.

There were still eight trucks: one truckload of hides, three truckloads of offal, and one truckload of antelope horns; the rest were empty.

After the truck arrived at the purchasing station and the people were instructed to unload the goods, Liu Gaolou gave Li Long a few things in the meeting room.

"Invitation letter, for eight people from Shicheng Sugar Factory. The specific list of personnel has not been finalized yet; let them decide for themselves. The time is from January 25th to 30th."

Regarding the extra shoes from last time, my second uncle said it was fine, consider it payment for the car, and you don't need to pay extra. Of course, this time you have to pay me in cash, because I still need to haul fifty tons of sugar back. I'll give you US dollars for those fifty tons of sugar.”

It seems Liu Shanmin has some extra US dollars on his side, otherwise he wouldn't be giving them all to Li Long now.

"My uncle said that after the shoes were shipped over, he went to the black market and traded them for a batch of special steel, which was then shipped back. This is something that is very much needed here, so it can be considered as completing another mission."

So if there are any more shoes, bring them over as soon as possible; he can get another batch.

“Okay, there should be another batch. I’ll urge them as soon as possible.” Li Long nodded.

"Well, my uncle also asked if you're going to Almaty, since the people on the invitation are going there. Are there any requirements for your itinerary?"

“Hunting isn’t necessary. The main focus should be on visits, meetings, and shopping. After all, it’s winter, so there probably aren’t many other entertainment options. We could organize some banquets or dances, or perhaps some kind of performance for them to watch,” Li Long said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay, I understand." Liu Gaolou nodded.

Since Li Long isn't going, we should make the arrangements as official as possible. Getting things done with money is relatively easy.

Next came the accounting. The price for the waste remained at 50 cents per kilogram, totaling 10,000 yuan. This time, there were 1,500 hides, worth 120,000 yuan, and 2,000 pairs of antelope horns, worth 60,000 yuan. In total, Li Long had to pay Liu Gaolou 190,000 yuan.

Liu Gaolou was to give Li Long $50,000, which was the actual amount.

Li Long had barely received 100,000 yuan before it was about to be spent, and he was even going to lose a significant portion of it.

Fortunately, Zhao Hui is coming soon. He will have to pay at least 400,000 to take the 3,500 hides, so it's still a profit overall, even if the antelope horns are kept secret.

After unloading the goods, we went to the sugar factory the next day. When Section Chief Hu saw the invitation, he couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

"Xiao Li, are you really not going? We'll only feel at ease if you go."

"I really can't go. I have business in Yanjing." Li Long really didn't want to go. "There's a leader there I need to visit, and I can't go before the New Year. I won't be able to get a number of appointments then."

Section Chief Hu immediately understood and nodded, saying, "Alright, we'll talk about it when we get back. By the way, if you need any more sugar in the meantime, just go to the sales department. I've already told them, and you can settle the bill normally."

Of course, this time Section Chief Hu still needed Li Long to leave the US dollars behind, otherwise he would feel uneasy.

(End of this chapter)