Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 962 A Guest from Afar Who Heard of Your Fame: I Came Because of Your Heroic Deeds
Although they had been waiting for Li Long for several days, neither Jia Tianlong nor Huang Lei was in a hurry. After Li Long returned, they both said that the other should go first. Li Long then let Jia Tianlong go first because there was a lot of fritillaria bulbs piled up here, which took up a lot of space.

Moreover, according to Gu Boyuan, Jia Tianlong arrived two days earlier than Huang Lei, and Li Long was thinking that since this Boss Jia's child was still young, even younger than his own Mingming and Haohao, he would prioritize him.

Although they are old friends, both of them were meticulous in checking the quality, color, and weight of the fritillaria bulbs. They could be good friends in ordinary times, but at this moment they were sincere partners.

Nobody should cheat anyone else.

Li Long carried the fritillaria bulbs out of the warehouse, while Jia Tianlong went to find a vehicle and temporary workers.

Huang Lei offered to help Li Long carry the items out, but Li Long refused.

He carried a bag full of fritillaria bulbs in each hand, each bag weighing seventy or eighty kilograms, and walked out with ease. Huang Lei, however, almost strained his back while carrying a bag on his shoulder with both hands, and Li Long told him to stop.

"Old Huang, you shouldn't do it anymore. I don't want you to get hurt while I'm not helping. I'd really be sorry if that happened." Li Long strode outside with two more bags, put them down, and quickly came back.

"Hmm, Comrade Li Long, you have a really strong hand!" Huang Lei had to admit defeat. The man carried two bags of fritillaria bulbs as if they were two bags of cotton, while he carried one bag as if it were a bag of dirt—comparing people is infuriating.

Although Huang Lei has gone from being down and out to being riding high from last year to this year, his spirits have changed, and he looks much more energetic, which makes him quite proud of himself.

But when I looked at Li Long, I realized that I had matured and become more "steady" over the past year, which meant I had aged a bit, while Li Long seemed to have not changed much.

Isn't this guy old?

Huang Lei only complained about it privately. He thought he would talk to Jia Tianlong when he had time to see if he shared the same thoughts.

More than three tons of fritillaria bulbs, each bag weighing about eighty kilograms, were brought out by Jia Tianlong along with people and vehicles, while Li Long had already moved them all out.

Lately, the main products we've been harvesting are dried mushrooms and fritillaria bulbs. We've had a large quantity of these two specialties, but some aren't completely dry, and some aren't clean. Right now, most of the backyard is used for drying fritillaria bulbs and mushrooms.

After taking out all the fritillaria bulbs, Li Long looked at the yard and thought to himself that he had only rented it for a few years. If possible, he should ask the county government if he could buy the yard, so that if something went wrong when the lease expired, the government would not renew the lease and he would have to move again, which would be very troublesome.

Huang Lei came over and looked at the dried mushrooms drying outside, and said:
"The quality is good, and the mushrooms are trimmed very cleanly. To be honest, I've bought morel mushrooms in other places before, and some people there dig them up by the roots, leaving soil around the base when they buy them."

As you know, dried morel mushrooms are lightweight and don't add much weight. Don't underestimate the little bit of soil on the roots; if you add too much, it can weigh half the mushroom itself.

"Don't worry about us," Li Long said with a smile. "The roots and stems have all been cut off. When we were buying, we told them to buy according to our own consumption standards, and to be strict. If there are roots or soil, we'll lower the price."

Now everyone agrees that if you sell your goods here, as long as the quality is good and the goods are clean, the price will be high. This applies not only to dried mushrooms, but also to fritillaria bulbs.

It's early June now, and the black tiger paw mushrooms haven't sprouted yet. The mushrooms that people come to the mountains to pick are only morels and straw mushrooms. Some of the mixed porcini, pine mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms are easy to identify, but Li Long won't let anyone buy the other mixed mushrooms because they are hard to distinguish and can easily cause poisoning.

The dried wild mushrooms in the plains are reed mushrooms, also known as Chinese delicious mushrooms and their variants. They all grow in the soil. These places are called "mushroom digging" because you really have to dig them up.

“We didn’t harvest many of these dried mushrooms last year, but you can try them this year. They have a very rich and fragrant flavor,” Li Long recommended to Huang Lei. “They’re more flavorful than morel mushrooms and cheaper.”

"How much cheaper?" Huang Lei was somewhat tempted, mainly because he could smell the strong mushroom aroma as soon as he got close to the large flat baskets where these dried mushrooms were being dried.

“Ten yuan per kilogram,” Li Long said. “It’s good for stewing soup or stir-frying. As you can see, it’s sliced ​​and dried, clean and free of dirt. It has a rich flavor and can be made into a substantial meal.”

Li Long's prices are not low. These reed mushrooms and Chinese delicacies, dug from the ground, can yield dozens of kilograms or even more in a single area after rain, provided the location is right.

In his previous life, Li Long traveled to Yili and encountered a place in the mountains between NLK County and Wulastai on the S315 highway. There was a place where mushrooms grew, which had been growing for decades. They started to appear in April and May, and one could dig up two to three hundred kilograms a day. They would disappear in late June when the weather got too hot, but they would reappear in September.

He came across a Kazakh herdsman selling mushrooms he had dug up. The small woven bag of mushrooms weighed about fifty or sixty kilograms. The herdsman asked for one hundred yuan, but the tourist with him bargained down to fifty and bought them.

There's also this kind of mushroom in Tuoli, Tacheng, to the north. The herders dig it up and don't eat it themselves, but sell it for money.

At first, they would sell to anyone who paid them. Later, people started to bargain, and then the prices went up. By the 2020s, a kilogram of fresh Bachu mushrooms could sell for more than 100 yuan, and morel mushrooms were even more expensive.

It's a good thing that business acumen has improved.

That said, these reed mushrooms and delicious mushrooms are large and fleshy, and can be dried to make a good weight. Li Long thought that if Huang Lei bargained down the price, even if it was only five or six yuan, he would sell them.

After all, this stuff isn't like morel mushrooms, which are sold in large quantities, with vendors carrying woven bags of dried goods weighing 20 or 30 kilograms each.

The purchase price is three yuan per kilogram. After that, the broken pieces are sifted out, and the whole product is kept.

"Okay, ten bucks it is. I'll take it first and take it back to test it—it won't be poisonous, will it?"

"Absolutely not," Li Long assured him. "We sorted them when we harvested them; they don't contain any other mushrooms. We're just worried about eating something that might cause problems." He seemed quite pleased.

As the two were chatting, Jia Tianlong drove into the yard with his men and car.

The next step is to inspect, weigh, record, and settle the payment.

Three thousand two hundred and seventeen kilograms of top-grade fritillaria bulbs were purchased at a price of ninety yuan per kilogram, totaling 289,530 yuan; four hundred and thirty-one kilograms of first-grade fritillaria bulbs were purchased at a price of seventy yuan per kilogram, totaling 30,170 yuan; and more than one hundred kilograms of fritillaria bulbs were not sold by Li Long because they were not cleaned properly.

Jia Tianlong was quite happy to have collected more than three tons of fritillaria bulbs at once.

Despite the considerable effort involved, pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to get their hands on these fritillaria bulbs – not only domestically, but also across the broader East Asian region, where there is a huge demand for Chinese medicinal herbs, especially in the eastern part of the country.

Li Long was naturally delighted; the gross income of nearly 320,000 yuan was much more than he had imagined.

At least 150,000 of this is pure profit, because they didn't know that the price of fritillaria had risen so much this year. Li Long set the purchase price at 50 yuan per kilogram for premium grade, 40 yuan for first grade, and 20 yuan for miscellaneous goods—that is, those that were not cleaned properly.

If it's not dried, the price will drop even lower.

It seems we'll have to raise prices next fritillary bulb season.

After paying the bill, Jia Tianlong felt relieved to be penniless. He declined Li Long's invitation to stay for dinner, saying with a smile that he needed to hurry up and deliver the goods back home so he could go home and take care of his child. Then he drove off.

Huang Lei wanted to weigh the dried mushrooms, but Li Long wouldn't let him. He took Huang Lei out to eat before coming back to weigh the mushrooms.

There were over 600 kilograms of morel mushrooms, and Huang Lei gave an average price of 40 yuan per kilogram after inspecting them, which was significantly more expensive than last year. There were 50 to 60 kilograms of old stock of black tiger paw mushrooms, which were purchased at 25 yuan per kilogram. There were over 100 kilograms of straw mushrooms, at 3 yuan per kilogram. Then there were over 400 kilograms of reed mushrooms, which were priced at 10 yuan per kilogram, according to the price set by Li Long, which Huang Lei did not mention.

The total price was over 32,100 yuan, and Li Long made a profit of about half of it. The purchase price of morel mushrooms was around 20 yuan, and after they were bought, the roots with soil were cut off. The purchase price of reed mushrooms was lower, but because they had to be screened and the residue removed, the impurities were removed more thoroughly.

Mushrooms are light but take up a lot of space, so Huang Lei rented a car instead of hiring anyone. He and Li Long loaded the dried mushrooms into the car and then drove away.

With a large empty space in the warehouse, Li Long felt relieved. He then carried a bag of cash to the bank—there was no other way; Jia Tianlong had come to pay in cash, and he didn't know why Jia Tianlong preferred to pay in cash.

When they got to the bank, they found out that Jia Tianlong had only withdrawn the cash when he was about to come to the county, and now it was essentially being transferred from one hand to the other and then brought in again.

Li Long didn't save all of it, keeping 100,000 yuan as working capital. Although the fritillaria bulbs in the mountains are starting to bloom, he believes that most of the people who harvested them will only come down from the mountains to sort their harvest and sell it to various purchasing stations. Therefore, fritillaria bulbs will remain the main specialty product purchased for the next half month or so.

The same is probably true for dried mushrooms.

Back in the courtyard, Li Long was in a good mood; anyone who received such a large sum of money today would be in a good mood.

The next morning, after breakfast, Li Long went to the post office. He wanted to send some things to Director Dai of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of the Autonomous Region in Beijing. Since the director had done him such a great favor, Li Long naturally couldn't let him do it for nothing.

The exchange of gifts was just a matter of exchanging local specialties.

Li Long also sent some local specialties to Xiao Wang. This time, they were truly local specialties, including raisins, red dates, dried mushrooms, walnuts, and so on.

He had talked to Xiao Wang. Because he was a local of Yanjing, his salary was above average. He had several family members, but he was not married yet and had to pay for his family's food.

The things Li Long sent should be just what's needed for him, since Xiao Wang isn't like Director Dai who has to manage his livelihood.

Therefore, the gifts should be down-to-earth.

Not only did Gu Xiaoxia send things to these two, she also asked Li Long to send some things to her younger sister Gu Xiaoyu, such as dried mushrooms and raisins, which Li Long naturally did as she asked.

On his way back from the post office, Li Long passed by the purchasing station and found it still packed with people. Since he didn't have much to do back home, he decided to go in and help out.

As soon as he entered, Gu Boyuan called out to him:
“Xiao Long, it’s just right. Two friends have come from afar and specifically asked to see you… Come, come, these two, you are Murat, right? Your name is Maoken? This is Li Long, the person you are looking for—Xiao Long, please take them to the reception room.”

The two men Li Long saw were Kazakhs, but they were dressed much like ordinary Han Chinese merchants, in shirts and trousers. If it weren't for the large sacks they were carrying, Li Long would have mistaken them for government officials on business.

"Please, come inside and have a seat," Li Long said with a smile. "There are too many people outside."

The two men placed the sacks on the counter and then followed Li Long into the reception room.

Li Long poured tea for the two men, then poured himself a cup, before waiting for them to explain their purpose.

“I come from Yili, from Gongliu,” Murat, who was in his forties, spoke first. He had a similar temperament to Yushanjiang, but had been integrated into modern society for a longer time. His Mandarin was quite standard. “Maokeng is my relative. We are both Kazakhs. We saw your story in the newspaper and we were very moved!”

Li Long hurriedly said, "I only did what I should do, and my Kazakh friends have also given me a lot."

“We Kazakhs are very hospitable and sincere to our friends, and I believe what you said,” Mauken said. “I come from Jinghe, and I’ve come here to show our support for your road construction project.”

“We both come from herding families, but we started working quite early. I buy fritillaria bulbs from the mountains and resell them to the purchasing station; Maoken buys goji berries in Jinghe. We’re both in the business of trading. Over the years, we’ve made some money and done some things for our tribe, but compared to what you’ve done for your herding friends, we’ve done very little,” Murat said.

“Mulati brought fritillaria, and I brought goji berries. We are giving these to you to help you with your road construction work. You are a Han Chinese, and you are working hard for the lives of us Kazakhs. We can’t just stand by and watch.”

"Yes, you must accept it. We'll come again in the future, and I believe even more people will support you. I hope you'll persevere!"

After they finished speaking, the two stood up, bowed to Li Long, and left.

Li Long was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly chased after them and asked repeatedly before finally leaving the two people's addresses—these two people didn't have phones installed yet, so leaving their addresses was the only option.

“I will definitely tell Halim and Yushanjiang about this. They will be grateful for your actions, and they might even come to see you when they have time,” Li Long said earnestly.

Li Long wanted to treat them to a meal, but the two declined, as they needed to hurry back. Jinghe was over 300 kilometers away, and Gongliu was nearly 600 kilometers away; they couldn't get there in a day.

Unable to keep them there, Li Long had no choice but to take the sacks they were carrying to the backyard and empty their contents.

The fritillaria bulbs are very clean, washed, and free of impurities, and the granules are very large. I don't know if this is how Murati always processes fritillaria bulbs, or if they specifically select high-quality ones.

Anyway, if these fritillaria bulbs were left with Jia Tianlong, he would definitely be willing to pay 100 yuan per kilogram.

This sack must weigh at least ninety kilograms—Li Long had no idea how Murati managed to get all these fritillaria bulbs.

This is nearly 10,000 yuan worth of goods—this Murati is really willing to spend!
Well, I should send him some things back when I have time. Although he gave these things to me as funds for road repairs, Li Long felt that this in itself was an affirmation of his actions.

This person is worth befriending.

The other sack of goji berries was also carefully selected. Although it was last year's stock, the berries were distinct and did not stick together due to sugar production. At this time, there was no sulfurization process. If you grabbed a handful and smelled it, it smelled sweet and fragrant.

This sack of goji berries is heavier than the fritillaria bulbs. Although the price of goji berries is not high at present, only three to five yuan per kilogram, it is still a considerable sum of money for an ordinary family.

What's more, these two sacks are full of affection.

Li Longxin thought to himself that he was getting a little carried away. He had mainly been working on road construction, but after returning from the commendation ceremony recently, he had basically stopped doing that work.

We still need to fix the road as soon as possible and get our own business done first.

After all, the big promise had been made. Although the road to the winter camp had been repaired, it was only the first step in a long journey. The most important thing was to come next.

As for the two sacks of goods, Li Long figured he might as well keep them and repay them in kind later. When Jia Tianlong arrived, he would sell the two sacks to him, and the proceeds would naturally be used for road repairs.

After putting the two sacks of goods into the warehouse and locking the door, Li Long went to the front yard and started to greet the sellers with Gu Boyuan and Sun Jiaqiang.

Li Long's appearance excited most of the sellers. For them, the celebrities they had heard of had mostly appeared on television, radio, or in newspapers. Li Long was the only celebrity they had ever seen and met up close, so they had to take a good look at him.

Since Li Long had shown up, everyone was prepared for this. He smiled throughout and provided excellent service. Having run the purchasing station for the past two years, he was quite knowledgeable about the condition and prices of various goods, so the others were very satisfied with his service—in their eyes, Li Long's willingness to come out and buy their goods was itself a form of recognition.

Half watching the spectacle and half buying things, these people left satisfied. It's likely that once they get back, this experience will become a story and gossip.

That day alone, they harvested over 400 kilograms of fritillaria bulbs, over 100 kilograms of dried mushrooms, and more than 20 pieces of various spring skins. They spent nearly 30,000 yuan in just one day!
Li Long thought to himself, "Most people's hearts can't handle spending money like this!"
Fortunately, he has a lot of money now and his cash flow can still keep up. The only thing he hopes Jia Tianlong will come to collect the goods more often is that he will be unable to keep up.

The main reason is that since the recent tour of lectures, too many people have come here to sell things. They are basically all coming because of his name, including Murati and Maoken.

They were willing to travel such a long distance to sell their goods to Li Long, perhaps partly because they wanted to support Li Long's road construction.

There are truly many simple and kind people.

Li Long felt that even for the sake of the good intentions in these people's hearts, he had to finish building the road as soon as possible!
PS:

Winners of the monthly pass lottery should contact the operations officer as soon as possible with their address and contact information. The apricots have been in season for several days now and are almost out; the deadline is the 5th. I'll contact the seller to ship the goods then, as I'm worried they might be out of stock if I wait too long. Since I contacted our neighborhood's group-buying group, and the group admin contacted Xingyuanzi themselves, I can't guarantee availability for others, so I won't provide a link.

(End of this chapter)