Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 988 I'm not a philanthropist, and you don't have much conscience either.
Qiao Xing had already drunk four cups of tea. He had been in the reception room for at least two hours and was getting restless. After going to the toilet twice, he went to check the front yard. After asking Gu Boyuan, he knew that asking again would be useless, since Gu Boyuan had been staying there the whole time and still couldn't contact Li Long.

It wasn't until the sun was almost setting that they heard the sound of a jeep. Qiao Xing jumped up, and the enamel mug in front of him, along with the tea inside, was knocked over by his clothes, spilling tea all over his pants.

Qiao Xing didn't have time to care, quickly wiped the tea off his pants, and ran out.

Li Long arrived at the courtyard first, intending to rest for a while and start packing up the chickens and fish that Meng Hai had put in the car. However, before he even got out of the car, Sister Yang told him about Qiao Xing's visit to him.

Having no other choice, Li Long had to hand over the chickens, eggs, and fish to Sister Yang, and then drive his jeep to the purchasing station.

The car drove to the backyard, and Li Long saw Qiao Xing chasing after them from the front yard. He asked with some confusion:

What are you doing over there?

It turned out that when Qiao Xing heard the sound of the jeep, he ran from the house to the front yard, but Li Long had already run to the back yard. He then ran to the back yard amidst the laughter of the crowd.

"Hey? What happened to your pants? Did you pee?" Li Long, still a little tipsy, joked.

"No, no," Qiao Xing explained, blushing. "It's tea, just tea. Mr. Li, you're finally back. How about we settle the deal now?"

Knowing Li Long's determination, Qiao Xing stopped trying to negotiate the price and just hoped to close the deal as soon as possible.

“It’s so late, and we’re harvesting over fifty tons of watermelon seeds,” Li Long said. “How about tomorrow? Even if we start early tomorrow morning, it won’t be finished until mid-afternoon.”

“No need, no need, today is fine. Mr. Li, I trust you. It doesn't need to be so complicated. You don't need to empty it all out. I'll just check each bag like I did yesterday,” Qiao Xing said. “How about it? After you've checked, I'll hire a truckload to haul it away tonight…”

Li Long didn't know why Qiao Xing was in such a hurry, but it didn't matter. Even if Dong Zhichao and Bai Xiuming came over to buy the melon seeds at the original price when he was making the transaction, he wouldn't change his mind.

People should keep their word. If those people didn't come when they were supposed to, and didn't respond promptly when you went to them, then you can't blame yourself.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Li Long said, pointing to the warehouse. “Do you want to hire a vehicle first?”

"No need, no need, I've already inquired," Qiao Xing said with a smile. "Once it's confirmed here, I'll make a call and they'll send a car over."

Hey, they've already started taking orders over the phone. They're definitely different now.

Li Long smiled and asked, "What about the money..."

"The money is in the meeting room." Qiao Xing brought the money with him.

"You just ran off like that? Aren't you afraid something'll happen to the money?" Li Long was startled. "So bold?"

“It’s your turf, so I’m confident.” Qiao Xing smiled and went to the reception room, bringing out a box of money.

A combination lock, no wonder.

Li Longren and Qiao Xing took the bag of money to the front desk and called people to help with transporting and loading the goods, as well as the car issue.

"Mr. Li, I've bought so much goods, can I have these sacks for free?" Qiao Xing didn't plan to open and sieve each sack today. He just wanted to do a simple check and load them onto the truck. He didn't want to go through so much trouble, so he said this.

“Of course, no problem,” Li Long said with a smile. “You’ve already bought so much goods, so giving you the sacks is no problem at all.”

The purchasing station buys a large number of sacks every month, which can naturally be included in the losses.

A dozen or so people rushed to the backyard of the purchasing station and began moving sacks and weighing them under Qiao Xing's direction.

As for removing the skin from the burlap sacks, it's even simpler: just weigh the burlap sack and then take the total weight.

Just as these people started weighing the sacks, and Li Long and Qiao Xing were counting, registering, and checking them together, cars began to drive in.

They were all experienced drivers and knew the process very well. They would drive in two cars at a time, load them up, tie them up, drive them out, and then drive in two empty cars.

There was quite a bit of movement.

Although there were many people and vehicles, it wasn't easy to pack fifty tons of watermelon seeds. It wasn't until after midnight, with the backyard brightly lit, that the sacks were finally packed.

Dinner was brought over by Sister Yang. It was a big bucket of soup and rice, which was shared with the driver and the porters. Everyone ate it hot and chatted, which made them feel much more relaxed and less tired.

Then it's time to pay the bill.

“50,890 kilograms, that’s the net weight after removing the pelt.” Qiao Xing looked tired, but also a little excited. “It’s three yuan per kilogram, so it’s 152,670 yuan in total. You can calculate it again.”

“That’s right.” Li Long had already calculated it and compared the amounts; they were the same. “Come and sign here so I can deposit it into the account.”

After Qiao Xing finished signing, he started paying Li Long. While counting the money, he said, "This money was hard for me to raise. I only brought 170,000 yuan. The rest is for shipping costs, labor costs, and the railway freight."

Li Long thought to himself, "The railway freight might not be enough to cover the remaining amount, right? But I suppose Qiao Xing must have other solutions."

After paying the money, Li Long took his backpack from the jeep, emptied it, and put the money inside. The bank was closed tonight, so he would do it tomorrow.

Qiao Xing was already very tired, but he knew that he couldn't stop yet; he still had to hurry up and transport these melon seeds to Wucheng.

"Leaving tonight? Is that alright?" Li Long asked worriedly. "You need to rest, don't you?"

"It's okay, I can just sleep in the car while I'm driving. I can rest when the car arrives at Wucheng Railway Station."

Qiao Xing is the purchasing manager, and he is very excited and nervous because he has a share of the goods he is bringing in this time.

Li Long didn't try to persuade him any further and let Qiao Xing drive away with several cars.

Gu Boyuan and Sun Jiaqiang were both busy, and Li Long first took out two hundred and handed it to Sun Jiaqiang:
"Xiao Sun, you must have been exhausted when you were harvesting the melon seeds. Here's a bonus."

Sun Jiaqiang hurriedly thanked them and accepted the gift. Knowing that Li Long and Gu Boyuan still had things to say, he went back.

“Uncle Gu, take this ten thousand. We made over sixty thousand from harvesting melon seeds this time. You took less the last few times, so take more this time,” Li Long said.

“Okay.” Gu Boyuan didn’t refuse.

"Keep this 30,000 as working capital for the purchasing station. We'll deposit it into the account later." Li Long took out another 30,000 and handed it to Gu Boyuan.

Gu Boyuan was always responsible for receiving and registering the working capital on the books, and Li Long trusted his father-in-law on this point.

After finishing his business, Li Long drove his Jeep back to the compound, and Sister Yang came over to open the door.

The lights were on in Ms. Yang's room, the master bedroom. After getting out of the car, Li Long said to Ms. Yang somewhat apologetically:
"Sister Yang, I'm sorry, I disturbed your and Xiao Fang's rest."

"What impact could it have? Look how polite you are, you must be exhausted. Your aunt is waiting, go and get some rest."

As she spoke, Sister Yang locked the door and hurried back inside.

Li Long carried his backpack into the house. Gu Xiaoxia was at the door, glancing back from time to time. Now, Mingming Haohao was sleeping less soundly, and she was afraid he would fall.

"You're back?" Seeing Li Long enter the house, Gu Xiaoxia smiled and came over to take his backpack. "Go wash up and go to bed."

Li Long gently patted her, inviting her into the inner room, while he went to wash up.

The water in the well was cold, but Li Long wasn't too afraid. After washing himself, he felt quite tired. He went inside, didn't say much, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

The next day, Li Long went to the bank to deposit the money, which relieved him of a major worry. With the warehouse cleared out, he could now receive other goods with peace of mind.

Two days later, just as Li Long had expected, Dong Zhichao called.

"Hello Mr. Li, I am Dong Zhichao."

Gu Boyuan called the courtyard to ask Li Long to answer the phone. Dong Zhichao only knew the phone number for Li Long's purchasing station. Li Long went to the purchasing station and waited for three minutes before Dong Zhichao called back.

"Hello, Manager Dong," Li Long said politely.

"Oh, is that so? You asked me about the raw material for making melon seeds last time, didn't you?"

"Yes, back then you said you didn't lack raw materials."

"Yes, back then we received so many raw materials that we didn't need any." "Hmm, I understand." Li Long's tone remained calm.

This made Dong Zhichao feel that something was wrong with the script. Shouldn't you be in a hurry?

"Mr. Li, here's the situation. After discussing it with my boss, we've decided to increase production. The main reason is that we've been cooperating for two years, and we trust your raw materials. I know you must have a lot of melon seeds piling up, so how about this?"

I'll buy your flattened watermelon seeds for 2.5 yuan each, how about that? It's a bit cheaper than last year, but I'll take them all, okay?

“Not good.” Li Long smiled and said, “I don’t agree with this price. Manager Dong said that we can’t negotiate this price. Since you don’t lack raw materials, you don’t need to consider my side of the matter. We’re doing business, there’s no need to force it, right?”

Dong Zhichao still felt that Li Long was putting on a brave face, but Li Long continued:
"I think my type of roasted watermelon seeds isn't uncommon in the market, but I'm confident in its quality. With so many roasting factories in the market, I believe other companies will recognize it, so that's fine."

After saying that, Li Long hung up the phone.

Hearing the busy tone on the other end, Dong Zhichao felt a surge of anger.

It’s so uncomfortable!
But he had no other choice; he couldn't just let Li Long go and slaughter him.

Li Long still felt it was pretty good; his guess was correct. Dong Zhichao was deliberately trying to lower the price, thinking that he should be in a hurry by now, so he kept dragging it out.

In the afternoon, the same procedure was followed, but fortunately, Li Long was at the purchasing station that afternoon and answered the phone directly.

The call was made by Bai Xiuming.

"Mr. Li, I'm so sorry. The factory sent me on a business trip a while ago to purchase raw materials in another location and to collect a payment from someone nearby. I just got back yesterday and knew you called, so I'm calling you back now—I told the factory about the raw materials, and they said they currently have enough..."

"Yeah, that's enough. I mainly called you because our cooperation went well last year. Since you have enough, then it's fine," Li Long said. "I've already processed the melon seeds here."

"No, no, no," Bai Xiuming felt a little embarrassed, but he had to say it. "We've been working together very well, and I was the one who approached you first. How about this, I'll talk to the factory, and you can make some concessions too. How about we continue our cooperation this year? Your raw materials are indeed excellent, and you're a good person too. I don't want to lose such a good partner..."

"Move aside? How do I move aside?" Li Long asked deliberately.

"Three yuan and fifty cents, that's a price that puts pressure on our factory. This year, when I went to other places to buy, it was all two yuan and fifty cents, and the best one was only three yuan. How about this, three yuan? But you'll need to bring the goods over... You have to understand..."

"Forget it," Li Long felt there was no need to continue the act. "I've already sold all the melon seeds I harvested. If you want more, wait until next year."

"What? It's sold?" Bai Xiuming was stunned. "How is that possible... No, no, I mean, how could it be so fast?"

"Quickly?" Li Long chuckled. "They were sold around this time last year too. You don't actually think that I can't sell my melon seeds except for you guys, do you?"

Bai Xiuming, or rather the management of the factory behind Bai Xiuming, really thought that way.

The Northwest is harsh and cold, and information is scarce, so the people there have traditional business methods.

In the eyes of the management behind Bai Xiuming, the people there are rather old-fashioned in doing business, holding onto a lot of good stuff and waiting for others to come and buy it.

With a little trickery, you can trap people and snatch up good goods at a low price.

Do you think the people in Grape Valley would adulterate their raisins back then? Do you think the herders would charge you for riding their horses at the beginning?
The decline in social morality has far-reaching consequences.

The first to be impacted are those relatively conservative industries that stick to old rules. When some traditional foods in northern Xinjiang started adding additives, and when some people in the Ili River Valley sold honey that was sweet but lacked floral fragrance, I could only sigh and go to the more remote mountains to contact old friends and tell them that the honey I get must be freshly harvested.

Bai Xiuming stood there for more than ten seconds before asking with a slightly bitter tone:
"Mr. Li, why didn't you wait for me?"

"What are you waiting for? To lower the price for me?" Li Long sneered.

When faced with self-interest, it's hard to say what integrity or friendship truly matter.

When Bai Xiuming came to see me, he was so sincere.

What now?
They were the ones who conspired to drive down the price, yet they blamed themselves.

Look for your own shortcomings, okay? Have you reflected on this over the past month?
"Then... Mr. Li, how much did you sell your watermelon seeds for?" Bai Xiuming asked curiously.

"It's a bit higher than the price you offered." Li Long didn't tell the truth.

The price was three yuan for both. However, Qiao Xing took the initiative to pick it up, while Bai Xiuming wanted Li Long to pay for the transportation, so Qiao Xing's price was relatively high.

"If you want these kinds of melon seeds, you'd better hurry next year." Li Long didn't bother to say anything more to him, leaving him with a few more words: "We do business with real money, don't try anything funny. I know how good my goods are. If you're going to try anything funny, get out of here!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

If you do the first thing, don't blame me for doing the fifteenth.

It's pretty straightforward. Although I earn less money, it saves me a lot of trouble.

After spending the National Day holiday at home, I can go and start repairing the road. Since I promised Halim and the others that we would extend the road another twenty kilometers this year, I have to keep my word.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, Chen Xingbang came with his sister Li Xia and daughter Hongqin. His second brother Li Anguo and his family did not have time off, saying they would come during the National Day holiday, so they were going to have a good National Day holiday.

After all, the family is scattered over a hundred kilometers apart, so seeing each other is really not easy. His parents had been nagging about this ever since the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Li Long wouldn't want to spoil their fun.

This year, I earned less than 300,000 yuan from fritillaria bulbs, less than 100,000 yuan from spring bark, less than 100,000 yuan from brooms, less than 100,000 yuan from mushrooms, and now I'm only making 60,000 yuan from harvesting melon seeds.

Adding up the other odds and ends from the acquisition station, the profits are enough to make up for the shortfall mentioned above. In other words, Li Long has earned approximately 700,000 so far.

Winter leather has another major source of income, but after making all that money from winter leather this time, it will be difficult to earn money from leather in the future. After all, with the implementation of animal protection laws, this business will gradually go underground.

To be honest, by the end of this century, hunting in northern Xinjiang, especially hunting gazelles, was not really regulated by the authorities. What was regulated more were the Siberian ibex, snow leopards, and argali sheep, which are very rare in the mountains.

Even if you hunt a wolf in the winter, if no one reports it, very few people will care.

Even the forestry station and the reclamation area police station are really focused on those very rare and precious actions.

For animals like the Tibetan gazelle, which can number in the thousands or tens of thousands in a single group in the opposite country, they really don't care much.

Although this side is protected, before the barbed wire fence is fully in place, every autumn and winter, when the border guards of the other country start using military vehicles and submachine guns to hunt gazelles, the gazelles from the other side will rush over in groups. Even when there is barbed wire, those gazelles, when cornered, can jump over the two-meter-high barbed wire fence in one go.

Great.

A considerable amount of money was spent.

Actually, the things that Halim and his group brought back were enough to cover the costs of road repairs, but some things couldn't be sold right now, so it was normal for Li Long to add money to the project.

The purchase of the yard and such was done in US dollars; that was windfall money, so it doesn't count.

Other miscellaneous purchases are not a big deal.

Last year I bought a big item, a Dongfanghong 75 tractor, which my older brother drives. This year there haven't been any major expenses.

It's basically pure income.

Therefore, Li Long's assets are growing steadily and rapidly.

It's not easy. It's been almost five years since I was reborn, and my total assets are still less than a million. It's a bit embarrassing for a reborn person.

But there was nothing he could do; given the times and Li Long's personality, he could only slowly and patiently endure it.

In order to make the most of this National Day and family reunion holiday, Li Long made a special trip into the mountains, intending to bring back some good things.

Although the items that can be obtained are all kept in Old Ma's circle.

But to be honest, who doesn't like a little windfall?
Otherwise, why would so many people like to "hunt the wilderness" forty years later? Even if they run into the mountains where others have contracted land to steal fruit and pick corn, they dare to call it "hunting the wilderness"?
Li Long simply enjoys this kind of life.

On the other end of the phone, Bai Xiuming gave a wry smile and said to his boss:
"We messed up; they sold the melon seeds."

"How is this possible?" The boss was furious and helpless; this didn't fit the script!
(End of this chapter)