Chapter 138: Meat Stays in the Pot

At the shooting range, Ning Weidong and Li Yuanchao stood before a small table painted military green, each fiddling with a Pistol.

The guns were neither new nor old, and they were very well maintained.

Li Yuanchao skillfully removed the slide of his gun and asked, "Weidong, I heard you were sent down to the countryside in the Northeast?"

Ning Weidong aimed the empty gun at a target twenty meters away and said, "It counts as the Northeast, but it wasn't the Great Northern Wilderness kind; it was just past the Shanhai Pass."

At this moment, an attendant brought over two large boxes of ammunition and placed them on the table.

With a "click," Li Yuanchao pressed the magazine release, took the bullets, and pressed them in one by one: "That's actually quite good."

Ning Weidong also began loading bullets: "Relatively speaking, yes. It's definitely better than going to Longjiang; I heard the winters there are cold enough to freeze your ears off."

Li Yuanchao smiled noncommittally, inserted the magazine back into the gun, and with a *clack*, chambered a round, raised his hand toward the target, and pulled the trigger without even aiming.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

A rapid succession of shots rang out, and in the blink of an eye, a full magazine was spent.

Ning Weidong watched from the side, and when he finished, he clapped and laughed: "Brother Li, great marksmanship."

Li Yuanchao said playfully: "Weidong, do you know how many rings I hit?"

It was over twenty meters from here to the target paper, which was a half-body human target; for a normal person at this distance, it was very difficult to see exactly how well the gun had performed.

But Ning Weidong was no normal person; after his transmigration, not only had his physical fitness improved, but his vision and hearing had also increased significantly.

If this were ordinary, with everyone just flattering each other, Ning Weidong would have called out "good," Li Yuanchao would have accepted it happily, and that would have been the end of it.

But today was clearly not an ordinary situation.

Ning Weidong paused for a brief moment, then immediately said: "Brother Li, I really can see it. Eight rings, seven rings, eight rings, nine rings..."

Li Yuanchao raised an eyebrow, his playfulness replaced by a bit more interest, and he gestured for someone to retrieve the target paper.

A moment later, a staff member went over to replace it with a new target paper and brought back the one Li Yuanchao had just shot.

Li Yuanchao looked at it and saw it was exactly as Ning Weidong had reported! He looked back at Ning Weidong, feeling a bit impressed: "You really could see it clearly?"

Ning Weidong smiled without answering, and with a very pretentious air, he raised his hand, picked up the gun, and aimed and fired with one hand.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

Ning Weidong's firing speed was clearly slower than Li Yuanchao's, but his immense strength gave him better control over the firearm, and his eyes saw the distant target more clearly; although his shooting felt a bit rusty and he wasn't familiar with the characteristics of this gun.

But after firing the first three rounds, the subsequent shots were all consecutive ten-ring hits.

After finishing, Ning Weidong put the gun down and smiled: "I haven't shot in a while, my hands are a bit rusty."

Li Yuanchao frowned and immediately had someone report the score.

A moment later, the staff member came over with the target paper and couldn't help but take an extra look at Ning Weidong.

"Seven rings, eight rings, nine rings, ten rings, ten rings..."

A total of eight shots, with the last five all being ten rings.

Ning Weidong was not surprised; he had already known the ring count the moment he finished shooting.

Li Yuanchao, standing to the side, was taken aback.

The Pistol was not an easy gun to shoot; it was very handy on the battlefield, but achieving a ten-ring score with every shot was quite difficult, and even sharpshooters in the military needed a bit of luck.

The relatively heavy recoil meant that controlling this gun required strong wrist strength and coordination.

Clearly, the score Ning Weidong had just achieved was not due to luck.

The first three shots were to understand the gun's characteristics, and the subsequent ten-ring shots were Ning Weidong's true strength.

Li Yuanchao couldn't help but applaud: "That is what you call real marksmanship!"

Ning Weidong said: "I've never been good at studying since I was a kid, but anything involving the body—like martial arts, wrestling, basketball, soccer... I can learn it very easily and reach a decent level."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchao couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart.

This guy Ning Weidong had really pulled off that act of arrogance.

Looking at Ning Weidong's thick eyebrows, large eyes, jet-black hair, and tall stature, Li Yuanchao understood; no wonder that wild girl Zhao Ruyi was so satisfied with Ning Weidong.

Any woman, especially the younger ones, loved this type.

Li Yuanchao wasn't jealous.

He had lived his life until now, and it had always been others who were jealous of him; he never needed to be jealous of anyone else.

Even facing Ning Weidong, who was taller, more handsome, and a better shot than him, he still didn't feel that it mattered.

Because he was Li Yuanchao, and from the moment he was born, his life was destined to surpass 99.99% of people.

Li Yuanchao instantly returned to normal, turning to pat Ning Weidong on the shoulder: "Weidong, I think you should go to a sports school. With your build and this athletic talent, you're definitely championship material for the games."

Ning Weidong smiled and didn't take the bait.

For ordinary people, taking the athlete's path was the shortcut with the lowest threshold.

This path didn't require much investment of resources, nor did it require the accumulation of ancestors or parents; as long as the results were solid, that was the greatest capital, and one could stand out.

However, shortcuts weren't that easy to take; anything with benefits must have corresponding drawbacks.

The drawback of the sports shortcut was that the ceiling was low, and the path was relatively narrow.

If Ning Weidong hadn't transmigrated and didn't have the connection with Wang Yuzhen, he might have taken this path with his physical condition.

But now, that possibility didn't exist at all.

Sports, in the end, were just a form of entertainment.

At this time, Zhao Ruyi and Li Kangmei caught up from behind.

Zhao Ruyi asked with a smile: "How are the scores? It's been a while since Yuanchao shot, right?"

Li Yuanchao laughed and said: "Can't compare, can't compare. Even if I practiced every day, I couldn't hit five consecutive ten-rings."

Hearing this, Li Kangmei and Zhao Ruyi were both shocked and looked at Ning Weidong.

Ning Weidong said it was just luck.

Zhao Ruyi curled her lips, not quite believing Ning Weidong was that capable, and casually picked up the gun Ning Weidong had just used, looked at it carefully, and then removed the magazine to quickly load bullets.

In a flash, Zhao Ruyi had nimbly chambered a round, spread her feet apart, one in front and one behind, and after a slight aim, began firing with one hand.

Among female comrades, Zhao Ruyi was considered to have natural-born strength; most grown men were not as strong as she was.

It was only upon meeting Ning Weidong that she experienced what it meant to be a delicate, clinging woman.

At this moment, holding the pistol, her wrist absorbed the recoil of the gunfire, and in just a moment, she emptied the magazine.

She immediately called for someone to report the target score. The result was a total of sixty rings from eight bullets.

This score was not bad; it averaged out to over seven rings per shot, not much different from Li Yuanchao just now.

Zhao Ruyi couldn't help but look at Ning Weidong: "When you used this gun just now, did you really hit five tens in a row? What kind of luck is that!"

Ning Weidong said: "What do you mean luck? I call this skill, alright!"

Li Kangmei, standing to the side, couldn't help but deeply size up Ning Weidong.

Anyone who can do any one thing to an extreme degree is no ordinary person.

Although one wouldn't dare say the marksmanship Ning Weidong displayed was the ultimate, it could certainly be considered to have a considerable standard.

Li Kangmei did not know Ning Weidong's situation, only feeling that such a person was not common, and felt a few more points of interest.

Immediately, the four of them gathered together, took two more guns, and while playing with the guns in a leisurely manner, began to chat about serious business.

Li Kangmei said: "Weidong, I heard from Ruyi that you want to make an issue out of the Approval Documents?"

Ning Weidong said with a chuckle: "It's not that I want to make an issue. You and Brother Li are clear about my situation; my salary is enough to spend, it's mainly for Ruyi..."

Zhao Ruyi heard this and did not refute it.

Everything Ning Weidong said was fact; she was never pretentious about this.

Ning Weidong added: "Li Jie, in our situation, if we want to make some money, it isn't difficult. As long as we express some intent, there will be plenty of people who will take the initiative to offer it up."

Li Kangmei nodded.

Ning Weidong said: "However, we must have a sense of what money can be taken and what money cannot..."

Li Kangmei looked at her younger brother beside her, feeling somewhat surprised that Ning Weidong could say these words: "So, you think this money from the Approval Documents can be taken~"

Ning Weidong nodded: "At least within the next five years, it is absolutely safe. From five to ten years, the risk will gradually increase. If you want to guarantee absolute safety, you must get out before '85."

Li Kangmei frowned.

Li Yuanchao interjected: "Why?"

There are many smart people in this world; as a transmigrator, Ning Weidong could see future trends and knew to what extent the Approval Documents would be exploited in the future, as there existed huge room for arbitrage.

Other people, through information asymmetry, could likewise discern the opportunities within this.

Clearly, the Li Family siblings were in this category.

Zhao Ruyi, who was at a lower level, did not have the opportunity to come into contact with it.

Or rather, it hadn't reached the level of Zhao Ruyi yet; perhaps in two years, as the news spread, it would further diffuse.

As for people like the Li Family's eldest brother, Zhao Lichun, and Ning Weiguo, they disdained to engage in such schemes.

What they pursued was success in politics.

Ning Weidong understood that Li Yuanchao's "why" was not asking why it was profitable, but why there was only a five or six-year window.

Ning Weidong estimated that Li Yuanchao was very likely already doing it at this moment.

According to what Zhao Ruyi said, Li Yuanchao currently had a collective-owned Trade Company in his hands.

What was this Trade Company doing?

Ning Weidong said: "It has been three years from '76 until now, and the fact that our economic development is facing a transition is an obvious problem. Previously, to ensure safety, we had to maintain a massive heavy military industry; now, we need to shift out a portion of resources to combine with capital coming from America, Japan, and Europe..."

Ning Weidong rambled on, explaining from the root why these Approval Documents were valuable.

"But we originally belonged to a policy-allocation type of commodity economy; within the system, we could achieve effective material allocation. However, once we break away from our system and connect with the Western world, there is a clear price difference between our resource prices and external resource prices."

Speaking to this point, Ning Weidong paused, his gaze sweeping over the Li Family siblings and landing on Zhao Ruyi, continuing: "Therefore, on the premise of not affecting the overall situation and not affecting the normal operation of our existing system, there must be a way to adjust our resource prices to a level similar to the outside. And if we don't earn this price difference, it will be left to foreigners. Rather than letting it be taken away, it's better to let the meat rot in our own pot."

Li Yuanchao was expressionless, unable to be read as to what he was thinking.

After Ning Weidong finished speaking, he said in a deep voice: "You mean, this is something the higher-ups want themselves?"

Ning Weidong said: "It's not exactly that they want it, it's just a solution with no other choice; we can't let outsiders benefit, right~ What's more, after a great change, there must be rewards for merit, otherwise how can you gather people's hearts."

Speaking to this point, Ning Weidong stopped at the right moment.

The Li Family siblings felt a chill in their hearts and neither continued the topic.

After a moment, Li Yuanchao said: "You believe that within five or six years, domestic and foreign resource prices will converge, and there will no longer be room for profit?"

Ning Weidong shook his head: "It won't be that fast; this is not just purely about resource prices."

Li Yuanchao said: "Oh?"

Ning Weidong said: "In the initial stage, this kind of interest concession is agreed upon by all parties, or at least tacitly approved. But... human greed is boundless. Once this opening is made, countless people will scramble to drill into it. Once this situation is formed, who do you think can control it?"

The Li Family siblings couldn't help but gasp.

Ning Weidong said: "The final method will definitely be to let it be, or even fan the flames, letting some people constantly break the bottom line, and finally, when things have gone too far, strike hard to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys."

Li Kangmei was silent, her expression uncertain.

Ning Weidong continued: "So the five or six years I mentioned is just the time of absolute safety. This matter can very likely be done for seven or eight years, or even more than ten years, but in the end, it will inevitably become a game of passing the parcel, and by then, it will depend on who is the unlucky one."

Li Yuanchao understood Ning Weidong's meaning and mused: "Weidong~ listening to you, why do I feel like you haven't really set your sights on this~"

Ning Weidong did not deny it, but asked in return: "Why would Brother Li think that?"

Li Yuanchao said: "Just now you said five?"

Ning Weidong said with a smile: "Brother Li has eyes like torches; since you've said so, I won't hide it from you, I really haven't set my sights on it."

Li Yuanchao couldn't help but raise his eyebrows; one must know that the little Trade Company he currently had was doing exactly this.

Although it was just small-scale for now and he didn't dare to make too much of a stir, it still made a net profit of twenty or thirty thousand a month.

This is 1979! Yet Ning Weidong bluntly said he hadn't set his sights on it; his tone was truly boundless.

Li Yuanchao was a person of extremely high spirit; as the youngest son of the Li Family, his personal ability and talent were quite outstanding.

Back then, in order to have someone stationed over there, the Li Family only had Li Kangmei and him whose ages were suitable.

Li Kangmei is a woman; once she marries in the future, her stance would become blurred and difficult to make convincing, so in the end, only Li Yuanchao could step forward, though it also cut off his future official career.

Even so, Li Yuanchao never considered himself to be the same kind of person as those compound-dwelling youths who spent their days muddled and idle.

He still had grand strategies in his heart.

Therefore, facing this attitude from Ning Weidong, he instinctively felt displeased.

But he was extremely shrewd and did not reveal it on his face at all; he wanted to hear what Ning Weidong could say next—whether he truly had profound insights or was just a person seeking attention.

(End of this chapter)