Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Dong Zhichao introduced to everyone at the dinner table:

"Lanlan is my niece, and she insisted on coming with me this time to see the world... I graduated from high school, didn't get into college, and don't want to go. The factory is my own, and I think it's nice to work with her."

It turns out to be a family business.

Li Long nodded and said with a smile:

“Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles are both good methods. As long as they are used correctly, they can all yield something.”

"Hey, Comrade Xiao Li speaks so well!" Dong Zhichao said with a smile, "He is also a cultured person..."

"No, no, no, I'm just a rough guy." Li Long waved his hands hurriedly, "Come, come, come, please, come and try the specialties of Northern Xinjiang."

Although it was summer, Li Long still ordered local and traditional dishes with strong flavors for the guests from afar.

Hand-pulled meat, large plate of mutton offal, spicy chicken, braised pork. At that time, there were no innovative dishes such as stir-fried and grilled meat in the restaurant, so they could only follow the traditional methods.

"This mutton tastes really good." Dong Zhichao is a good eater. After finishing a piece of short ribs, he wiped his hands with paper and praised, "I haven't eaten such good mutton for a long time."

It is said that sheep on the grassland are good, but many sheep on the grassland also have a strong smell. If you want to say that the smell is less, then it must be the sheep that have eaten the grass on the saline-alkali beach.

So sometimes, don’t have a filter for grassland sheep - the meat is good, it’s true, but whether you can adapt to it is another matter.

Because they still had things to discuss, they didn't drink. Li Long could see that Jia Tianlong was accompanying Dong Zhichao and Ye Lanlan, and basically didn't talk much. It wasn't that he was not as important as Dong Zhichao, but it felt like he had a good relationship with both parties, so it was hard for him to talk in the middle.

Li Long could naturally understand this. He didn't intend to rely on connections, but rather on products.

Li Long brought three people to the large yard of the purchasing station, walked through the people who came to sell things, and sat down in the reception room in the backyard.

"Please sit down first. I'll go get something." Li Long waited for the three of them to sit down. When Sun Jiaqiang brought them some water, he went out.

When Li Long came in again, he was holding a plate of smashed melon seeds.

Dong Zhichao knew that the real show was about to begin.

The market competition in Kouli is much more intense than that in Northern Xinjiang. Their roasted nuts factory has many competitors in terms of raw material supply and market share, both local and foreign.

So Jia Tianlong contacted him and told him that there were melon seeds for sale in Northern Xinjiang at a low price, and Dong Zhichao was tempted. Northern Xinjiang is an unfamiliar area for many businessmen, and they basically don't dare to set foot in it.

Dong Zhichao had been to northern Xinjiang more than ten years ago and knew that the situation here was not what the public imagined, so he dared to bring people here to take a look.

Sure enough, even Ye Lanlan, who had always been skeptical, changed her mind after this experience.

Now I am quite curious about the plate of melon seeds.

"Come, try it, we fried it ourselves." Li Long signaled to the three people, and he also grabbed a handful and started to crack it.

Ye Lanlan watched very carefully. Li Long did not throw the melon seed shells he cracked on the ground, but placed them in a small pile on the table in front of her.

Well, quite qualified.

Dong Zhichao was somewhat curious about the meaning of the plate of melon seeds given by Li Long.

Isn’t the price agreed upon?

He grabbed a handful and started knocking them, then Ye Lan also grabbed two or three in her hand, but she didn't knock them directly. She observed first.

Jia Tianlong was not polite at all. He grabbed a handful and knocked on it in his hand.

With Li Long taking the lead, they didn't throw the melon seed shells on the ground, but put them on the table.

"It smells delicious." Dong Zhichao kowtowed two or three times and praised it.

Of course, it seems to be perfunctory.

Li Long smiled and asked:

"Did you bring your roasted melon seeds? If you did, let me have some."

Dong Zhichao was cracking melon seeds. After hearing what Li Long said, he shook his head and said, "No, we are purchasing and we don't usually do sales, so we didn't bring that."

Li Long was a little disappointed. Only when there is comparison can there be harm... No, only then can one see the benefits of picking melon seeds by himself.

"I brought some." Ye Lanlan whispered, "I was afraid I'd get bored on the road, so I brought a few packs. Now I have... half a pack left."

"Okay, take it out and try it." Li Long was overjoyed.

Ye Lanlan blushed slightly. She didn't want to show the image of a greedy girl in front of Li Long. After all, judging from the current situation, Li Long was still capable. Girls were generally more reserved in front of capable men and didn't want to expose their shortcomings, regardless of whether the man was married or not.

Ye Lanlan took out the bag of melon seeds from her own roasted nuts factory from her bag and placed it next to the plate.

Li Long simply poured the half bag of melon seeds onto the table, and then said to Dong Zhichao:
"Do ten of the same thing, and compare them."

"What's there to compare? They're almost the same." Dong Zhichao usually doesn't crack melon seeds, even if they're from his own family. But he cracked them here at Li Long's place today, just to give Li Long face. But having said that, he threw another one into his mouth after he finished speaking.

"It's okay, just compare them and see, there must be a difference." This time Li Long didn't plan to say it himself, he had to let the customer taste it.

Although Dong Zhichao didn't know what was in Li Long's pocket, since he was here and they were homemade roasted melon seeds, he might as well crack a few.

Just ten melon seeds, nothing. I cracked more than ten just now.

However, after only three knocks, Dong Zhichao realized that there was a problem.

Li Long cracked the melon seeds one by one smoothly and happily without any pause, and the seeds he cracked were basically all intact.

For the bag of melon seeds I made, one out of three couldn't be cracked open at once, and even after I cracked it open, not all the seeds came out.

It's like chicken ribs. If you throw it away, most of the seeds are inside. If you don't throw it away, it will be troublesome when you crack it.

"This is... your melon seeds are different, Comrade Li!" Dong Zhichao is in charge of purchasing. Although he is not in charge of quality control, he can taste the difference immediately, "This melon seed is good."

"Not bad, right?" Li Long smiled. It was good to be able to taste the difference. "All the melon seeds I sell to you are like this."

"Really?" Dong Zhichao was a little excited, but then calmed down.

He knew that this was Li Long's marketing strategy and he couldn't fall into it.

"Of course it's true." Li Long could see that Dong Zhichao was actually quite interested, so he stood up and said:

"Come on, follow me to check out the goods."

Ye Lanlan didn't say anything. She actually loved cracking melon seeds. She had already cracked the difference just now, but she didn't say anything. After all, it was her uncle who made the decision to come here.

When Li Long said let's go, she stood up too. But she was still a little reluctant and grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the plate and took them with her.

Jia Tianlong moved quickly. He had not said anything until now. He walked at the back and simply poured all the roasted melon seeds on the plate into his pocket.

Li Long led Dong Zhichao and the others into the warehouse, tore off a sack at random, untied the rope, opened the sack, and said to Dong Zhichao:

"Manager Dong, can you take a look for yourself?"

As he spoke, he pulled out another sack and opened it as well.

To check this thing, the Grain Bureau has a stamp of that kind, but Li Long doesn't know where to buy it. If he has it, he can just give it to Dong Zhichao and let him stamp it himself. It will be more convenient.

Seeing that they were getting down to business, Dong Zhichao put away his smile, reached into his pocket, grabbed a handful, and began to look at it carefully.

This handful of melon seeds were not only clean, but also had no shriveled seeds. Each one was as smooth and flat as the ones Li Long had fried earlier.

Nice, beautiful.

Dong Zhichao grabbed several handfuls of melon seeds, just like that. He then went to an inconspicuous corner at the back and pulled out a bag. However, he didn't have enough strength and couldn't pull it even after trying, which was a bit embarrassing.

Maybe he saw Li Long pulling down a bag easily and thought he could do it too.

Li Long went over to help him pull it over. Dong Zhichao laughed at himself and said, "Alas, I'm old. When I was young, I was like you. I ate a lot, worked a lot, and had a lot of strength. I didn't think it was a big deal at that time. Now that I'm older, I think it's better to be young."

Li Long smiled and said nothing. He opened the pocket and showed it to Dong Zhichao.

Dong Zhichao reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of melon seeds. He looked at them in the light and found that they were of the same quality. He was surprised and put the melon seeds back into his pocket and asked Li Long, "Comrade Li, have you found a way to grow these melon seeds?"

Although he had been to the countryside and joined the production team, he was not an expert and was not proficient in farming, so he asked this question.

Li Long shook his head and said nothing.

Dong Zhichao couldn't find out even if he wanted to.

Li Long talked to him about another problem:

"Manager Dong, you have seen these melon seeds. I don't need to say much about their quality. Now, let's talk about the price..."

"Hasn't the price been agreed upon?" Dong Zhichao interrupted Li Long. "We're here for 2.5 yuan per kilogram. If you want to ship it, it's 3 yuan per kilogram. This was agreed upon long ago, otherwise we wouldn't have come here with such sincerity."

"I know, I know." Seeing that Dong Zhichao was still pretending to be confused, Li Long said patiently, "The price we agreed on is two dollars and fifty cents. But the two dollars and fifty cents for the melon seeds, like the ones in your bag, is the normal price.

Now I am getting better at picking melon seeds. If it is still 2.5 yuan, do you think it is appropriate?"

"What's wrong with that?" Dong Zhichao didn't want to give up the initiative, nor did he want to raise the price. "This is a deal we've agreed on. The price was agreed upon. When we came here, we also discussed it with the finance department, and they offered this price. Now you're raising the price temporarily. Isn't that inappropriate?"

"Manager Dong, let's get down to business. Think about it. You buy these dozen melon seeds, fry them, process them, and sell them. If people try these dozen melon seeds and then try others', they will definitely buy your seeds again, right? This will virtually increase your deep customer base.

Your customer base has expanded, sales have increased, and your profits have also increased? Let's not talk about the quality of my melon seeds, but the attractiveness - Manager Dong, you don't eat melon seeds often, so you can judge for yourself. If someone gives you a bag of melon seeds, would you rather eat mine or something else?"

Li Long spoke sincerely. He really didn't want to sell his melon seeds at a low price.

It was still selling for 3.5 yuan last year. Even though the quantity has increased this year, the market is actually bigger - this is a market in Kouli, and the population of an ordinary town is greater than that of a county in northern Xinjiang.

Why can’t good things be sold at a high price?
Although Dong Zhichao knew that what Li Long said made sense and as a purchasing agent, he also had the right to raise the price, but he didn't want to.

He thought about taking back what Li Long had said. If he could buy back these melon seeds at the original price, and then go back and tell the people in the factory about the benefits, wouldn't his prestige increase?

Ye Lanlan was somewhat moved, mainly because what Li Long said made sense. She whispered, "Uncle..."

"Don't interrupt me." Dong Zhichao turned his head and glared at her, saying, "Just watch."

After saying that, he looked at Li Long:

"Comrade Li, what you mean is..."

"I'll tell you the truth. Here are ten tons of melon seeds. I think the original price is not appropriate. If you raise the price a little, you can take these ten tons. There will be more later.

I'm not lying to you. In the village where I used to live, there are at least 500 acres of land planted with melons. We are doing long-term business. But if you still go with the original price, then this business will basically be a one-time deal, and I will never do business with you again."

Li Long saw that after all he had said, Dong Zhichao was still unmoved, and he felt it was no use. He thought that this man was not the type to do big business, and he had originally thought that the other party would take the initiative to raise the price, so he would give him a few prescriptions.

Now it seems that this is no longer necessary.

After hearing what Li Long said, Dong Zhichao narrowed his eyes. He felt the threat in Li Long's words.

They are not the only ones doing roasted nuts business.

Li Long is now begging Dong Zhichao to buy these things. It is true that the initiative is in Dong Zhichao's hands, but if he really does this, Dong Zhichao can see that Li Long can do what he said just now.

It's not that he doesn't have a long-term vision, it's impossible for him not to see the benefits of this kind of melon seed beating. It's just that he thinks Li Long is young and can suppress him with his qualifications.

But, it exploded.

"Well, Comrade Li is right." Dong Zhichao was reluctant to part with the threshed melon seeds. He thought for a while and said, "How about this? If the threshed melon seeds are of this quality, I will charge you 2.75 yuan for them, how about that?"

Raising the price by one tenth at once shows sincerity.

Li Long nodded and said nothing more.

Okay, the price has been raised, so let’s just take these ten tons.

From now on, it will be impossible.

After Li Long made up his mind, he cooperated with Dong Zhichao and others to check the situation of beating melon seeds.

Jia Tianlong took the time to whisper to Li Long:

"I have a good relationship with the factory manager, so it's not easy for me to be a middleman. It's hard to talk to either side. Don't mind it, brother..."

"It's okay, it's okay. I have to thank you for this." Li Long smiled. He really didn't feel anything now. It's really hard to expand the sales channels of specialty products.

He felt that Dong Zhichao was not a suitable partner, so he needed to find another one. But Jia Tianlong only found one, and if he were to find one, he would be worse than Jia Tianlong.

Then let’s put it aside for now.

Ten tons of melon seeds were sold at 2.75 yuan per kilogram, and the final amount was 27,500 yuan.

The cost was 20,000 yuan, plus more than 1,000 yuan for flattening, the freight from Beiting, and treating Dong Zhichao and others to a meal, totaling 21,300 yuan.

Earned six thousand two hundred dollars.

It’s not a lot for Li Long, but it’s not a small amount either.

Dong Zhichao and his team had no vehicle to transport the goods, so Li Long went to the transportation company to help them get in touch with a truck to take them away.

Jia Tianlong was busy and did not go with Dong Zhichao and the others. On the way back, Ye Lanlan said to Dong Zhichao:

"Uncle, isn't this price a bit low?"

"It's not low anymore. I increased the agreed price by 10%. That's already very generous of me." Dong Zhichao was actually quite proud of it.

"But I can see that Li Long will not cooperate with us again—at least not at this price."

"They are not the only ones who grow and sell melon seeds." Dong Zhichao didn't care much. "I don't believe that they are the only one who has such ordinary melon seeds?"

Ye Lanlan stopped talking. She had only been in the purchasing department for a short time and did not have much experience, so it was impossible for her to make the decision.

"Besides, there is no other use for these melon seeds except for making roasted nuts. There are not many roasted nuts in Northern Xinjiang. If he doesn't sell the goods from us, where else can he sell them from? Lanlan, don't worry, I have thought about this a long time ago. It's not that I am cruel, it's just the way it is these days. If you are not cruel, you can't make money."

Ye Lanlan stopped talking. My uncle has been to many places and experienced a lot, so maybe there is some truth in this?
But she felt that Li Long would really not do business with her anymore.

Dong Zhichao and his team coordinated a truck to send the melon seeds to the roasted nuts factory, asking them to receive the goods as soon as possible.

Dong Zhichao is really curious to see what kind of reaction this batch of goods will get after it is fried, packaged and enters the market.

The flat-mouthed melon seed punch that Li Long gave him gave him some ideas. He did not go back, but began to inquire about the situation of melon seed punching nearby, and even went to the state cooperative.

But no one could find the kind of flat-mouthed melon seeds. Except for Li Long, no one else knew what he was talking about.

Is it really unique to Li Long's family?
Dong Zhichao really didn't believe it, so he went to southern Xinjiang and later to Gansu Province, where melons were also produced.

Also not found.

This is strange!

After Li Long cleared out the melon seeds, he drove his jeep to the state cooperative to report to Director Qian.

"The other party only offered two dollars and seventy-five cents..." Although this price also did not meet Director Qian's expectations, it was much better than his own.

Director Qian did not tell Li Long that Dong Zhichao would not even accept the two dollars and fifty cents for the melon seeds that they bought in their warehouse. He would have accepted them originally, but after seeing the flat-mouthed melon seeds provided by Li Long, Dong Zhichao's standards became higher and he was not willing to accept ordinary melon seeds.

So those in the Beiting warehouse were not sold either.

Li Long didn't know it was his fault, and Director Qian was not directly involved and didn't know what was going on.

I only know that the customers have high demands but offer low prices.

So he had no objection to Li Long's situation, and told Li Long not to worry. It was a good thing if he could sell it anyway. If he couldn't sell it later, it would not be his problem.

Then let Li Long go to the house for lunch. (End of this chapter)