Chapter 341: One Hundred Thousand Catties of Clams

Ye Cheng looked up at He Lao Ban, speaking with a heavier tone,

"50,000-100,000 catties, depending on the yield, it's what my brother's farm raises."

"Ten? Ten-thousand? Are you sure it's ten-thousand???"

"Yes, ten-thousand!"

"100,000 catties?"

"Yes, 100,000 catties."

He Lao Ban leaned back, this number somewhat startled him.

He is actually a middleman, just collecting scattered goods; now telling him 100,000 catties, he really is a bit afraid.

One is that this amount is huge, he has no sales channel; this isn't a few thousand catties, it's 100,000 catties—even if you gave him the whole market of Donghai Shi, he'd need some time to digest it.

Another is that buying this many clams costs money.

Even if farmed clams are a bit cheaper, they still cost seven or eight per catty; adding up, it's several hundred thousand, he needs working capital.

For such a big deal, if he could really find a place to sell, turning it over would net a little over 100,000.

"Brother, brother, you're my god of wealth." Lao Er didn't call him that, Ye Cheng didn't call him that, He Lao Ban directly started calling him brother.

In business, as long as there's money to be made, calling him 'brother' is nothing.

This made Ye Cheng a bit embarrassed,

"Don't, you're so old calling me brother, I can't take it; just say whether you can eat it all, if you can't I'll find someone else."

As soon as Ye Cheng said he'd look for someone else, He Lao Ban wouldn't have it, hastily responding,

"I can eat it all, rest assured, I definitely can eat it all, I've decided to take this deal."

He had decided, soon he'd contact those big distributors; big distributors usually run goods outward, they have wild channels.

"But you have to take me to see the goods first, then I can quote a price."

Ye Cheng also knew that, given He Lao Ban's own capacity, he couldn't eat all that; he'd definitely need to find a higher-level distributor to make a margin.

So to have him give a price, he definitely needs to have seen the goods and checked with his upstream.

"Fine, whenever you have time to come see the goods, anyway it's in our village."

"What's with asking if I have time? My mind is full of clams right now, hurry and take me to see." He Lao Ban was all worked up; you told me about such a big deal and still ask when I'm free—damn!

It's like hearing that a gorgeous new girl has arrived at the foot-washing city; which guy could stay seated?

Seeing He Lao Ban's anxious, jumpy appearance, Ye Cheng smiled helplessly,

"Alright, then I'll take you now; can you ride on the motorcycle?"

"Sure, never mind sitting on the motorcycle, you could have me carry the motorcycle and I could still manage."

"Fine, you're still the one who knows how to pull off a stunt."

Ye Cheng gave a thumbs up, taking He Lao Ban back to the village.

By the tidal flats, Ye Guowei had already built a large pond; when it's time to collect, they'll rinse the clams there and then load them onto trucks.

Seeing Ye Cheng bring He Lao Ban over, Ye Guowei also came over to greet, "He Lao Ban, rare guest."

He Lao Ban looked at such a large farm, his eyes lit up, and he quickly grasped Ye Guowei's hand,

"Guowei, you're hiding your talents; you built such a large farm and didn't even say."

Ye Guowei laughed honestly,

"Just earning some hard-earned money, what's there to say."

"Did Lao Er just tell me they could produce 100,000 catties?" He Lao Ban confirmed again.

"Hmm, roughly; I just checked, the estimated yield of mature clams is about 100,000 catties, the rest will need some more time; I'll take you to see."

"Okay, okay, I'll have a look."

He Lao Ban eagerly followed Ye Guowei down to the tidal flats, casually picking up a few clams from the flats.

They're over 2 cm, almost 3 cm big, and the clam meat is very plump; seeing this, He Lao Ban was overjoyed—this is a good batch.

He picked up a few from the flats to take as samples, then hurried off, planning to go to the city to find his upstream.

"A Cheng, how much money do you think this can sell for?" Ye Guowei looked at the whole tidal flat, feeling somewhat emotional.

Originally I thought farming clams would earn ten thousand a year, but now it looks like it might exceed that.

And the excess is quite a bit; Ye Guowei feels he can't even calculate it.

Could I really be getting rich?

Is this reality or am I dreaming?

"Brother, you need to be mentally prepared; this is a farm, the purchase price won't be too high—I estimate it'll be about half the retail price. Maybe only two or three per catty; if we can output 100,000 catties, that'd be two or three hundred thousand." Ye Cheng made a rough calculation.

"Two... two or three hundred thousand." Ye Guowei's Adam's apple rolled; he'd never seen that much money in his life.

"Alright, brother, don't dwell on it; wait for He Lao Ban's news. We'll get ready—when they want the goods, we need to get the clams out right away."

"You can rest assured; I'll get the clams out for them even if I don't sleep, not giving away even a small one." In terms of diligence, Ye Guowei is indeed much stronger than Ye Cheng.

In the afternoon, He Lao Ban called; the purchase price is 2.8 per catty.

This price matches what Ye Cheng guessed; these clams in the market would sell for six or seven, so cutting the purchase price in half is normal.

After all, for the purchaser there are transport costs and losses, plus the secondary distributor needs to make money, the end also needs to make money; after all those layers, 2.8 is already a decent price.

He Lao Ban also specially asked when the goods could be ready.

Ye Cheng had previously estimated this as well: 100,000 catties, using a clam rake, with many people it could be done in 10-12 hours, but they must avoid the tide.

At night there is tide, visibility is poor, so work can only be done in the daytime.

If enough people can be found, starting early tomorrow, they should be able to finish harvesting by late afternoon before dinner.

If really impossible, just harvest whatever amount you can.

Then let's set the delivery time for tomorrow afternoon at 6 PM; He Lao Ban will bring his vehicle over to haul the goods, and then money and goods will be settled.

After hanging up with He Lao Ban, Ye Cheng hurried to call Ye Guowei back from the tidal flat.

"Brother, I've settled with He Lao Ban—delivery tomorrow at 6 p. m., price 2.8 per catty."

Ye Guowei had no objection to the price; he now only wants to get a sum of money first, and only with profit will he have motivation.

"Then A Cheng, let's get to work now—I haven't even started yet." Knowing they have to deliver, Ye Guowei now wants to hurry and harvest the clams.

Seeing Ye Guowei so anxious, Ye Cheng grabbed him and said, "Brother, how can you finish harvesting all that by yourself? It's 100,000!"

"Right, what should we do? I'll go call your sister-in-law, we'll round up some people to go together, otherwise we won't make it in time."

"No, brother, calling just a few people won't help. Here's the plan: today we'll go recruit people, get 50 of them, start work tomorrow at 5 a. m., work until 6 p. m., pay 100 per person, and provide three meals."