Chapter 141: Supply and Marketing Cooperative Sells Wolf Skins

After arranging the wolf skins, Section Chief Liu began to inspect them one by one.

"The skins are good, but they have bullet holes and external injuries; otherwise I could give you more money."

Lu Cheng was speechless: "You say that, so there must be injuries; a wolf can't just stand still. Let me cut the skin off."

"Haha, that's true, that's true. The skin is indeed fine; in the future, if you have skins, just give them to me, I'll make sure you don't lose out."

Lu Cheng got straight to the point: "That depends on the price you offer."

Section Chief Liu nodded: "The price is the standard purchase price. I just checked, and each of these four wolf skins can fetch forty‑five yuan."

The offered price seemed reasonable; before coming, Lu Cheng had learned that a sheepskin costs only eight or nine yuan per piece.

The price of this single wolf skin could equal a regular worker's monthly salary.

And it's also an unexpected windfall, so Lu Cheng was very satisfied.

"Then please have Section Chief Liu let the accountant settle the account; I'm waiting to catch the train."

Lu Cheng said that, but Section Chief Liu wasn't in a hurry; instead he circled around the wolf skin on Da Kui's shoulder, looking it over from left to right.

"Ah, this skin is great—big and thick, and the fur is smooth…"

Hearing Liu's endless praise, Lu Cheng replied, "Of course it's good; this is the skin of an Alpha Wolf."

"Ha, no wonder!" Liu examined Lu Cheng again: "You even killed the Alpha Wolf. Young comrade, you're remarkable; even old hunters wouldn't dare tangle with an Alpha Wolf."

"Hehe, thanks for the compliment. Please go ahead and settle the bill."

Section Chief Liu signaled him not to be impatient: "You see, you young comrade just lack patience; I haven't even told you the price of this skin yet."

Compared with the other four wolf skins, Liu preferred this Alpha Wolf skin; if taken as a gift, it would carry prestige.

However, Lu Cheng had no intention of selling this one; such a fine wolf skin can't be bought even with money, so he decided to present it to his master as a tribute.

The shantytown where Xu Erye lived was unbearably damp in winter, and the old man was stubbornly stubborn, refusing to light a heater, saying that thing makes you feel limp and weak the next morning.

"Sorry, Section Chief Liu, I won't sell this skin."

"Not sell?" Liu was taken aback: "Such a fine skin, how can you refuse to sell it?"

He instantly understood that the young comrade was trying to raise the price; it was understandable, after all, an Alpha Wolf's skin is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime find.

"Hehe, you young comrade, you're quite the businessman. Here's the deal: I'll make sure you don't lose out. I'll quote you a separate price for this skin—one hundred and twenty yuan each."

In this era, a price of 120 yuan is extremely high; an ordinary farmer working the fields for years wouldn't have that much left.

Seeing Lu Cheng still wouldn't budge, Liu gritted his teeth and said, "I'll add ten yuan more; this is the highest I can give you. Think it over carefully."

Such a fine skin, Liu didn't want to give up.

But since it's a good thing, Lu Cheng certainly knew.

"I'm truly sorry, Section Chief Liu, even if you give me twelve hundred, I still won't sell."

Lu Cheng didn't care about money; some things can't be measured in cash, like the Siheyuan that belongs to Lin Qingyan's family.

It's preserved for future generations, has a prime location and cultural heritage, and you can't even buy it if you wanted to.

Seeing that Lu Cheng didn't seem to be raising the price, Tian Shukuan made a grim face: "How about you name a price? At worst I can apply upward."

Lu Cheng smiled: "I really won't sell! Look at those four wolf skins—can you take them? If not, I'll go elsewhere."

"No, no, no, I'm just calculating the money for you."

Although Section Chief Liu was extremely regretful for not getting the Alpha Wolf skin, the other four wolf skins weren't that easy to purchase either.

He went to the accountant, collected the money; the four skins sold for 180 yuan, enough to buy a bicycle.

But Lu Cheng didn't plan to buy one himself; his sister promised to get a bicycle, so he kept the money for a foot massage while soaking.

He directly pulled out five Great Unity notes and handed them to Da Kui: "Take them as a gift."

Niu Da Kui glanced at them, shook his head: "I don't want the money."

Lu Cheng lowered himself: "Why not? This is what you deserve; after all, you killed a wolf. Besides, you're always complaining about being hungry—only with money can you buy food."

Niu Da Kui thought for a moment: "Then just buy food directly. I want to bring some for the three of them as well."

Lu Cheng blinked; this Niu Da Kui was still thinking about Liu Jian'an and the other two—nice.

Returning to the counter, Lu Cheng rested his arm on the glass panel and called out to the sales clerk, "Big Sister."

The young girl rolled her eyes: "Who are you calling Big Sister?"

"Big girl!"

The girl tossed a cleaning rag onto the table: "What do you want?"

The attitude was poor, but Lu Cheng wasn't surprised; sales clerks at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative often have this problem.

Lu Cheng turned to Da Kui and said, "What caught your eye? Take whatever you want; I'm paying today."

Niu Da Kui instantly got excited; he only cares about food. Looking at the dazzling array of goods on the shelves behind, his eyes lit up.

"I want milk candy, also big fried twists, also rice dumplings, and this too—I want them all…"

The girl sneered, looking at Lu Cheng: "I know you made a lot of money selling skins, but can you afford to buy? He wants so many things; that's worth a lot of money."

Lu Cheng slapped eighteen Great Unity notes onto the counter: "Enough?"

The girl swallowed, then got up to fetch the items for Da Kui.

Lu Cheng asked for needle and thread, planning to mend the back of his coat on the train, and also took an insulated enamel cup.

Finally his gaze fell on a red knitted scarf; he had bought one for his sister‑in‑law last time, and she looked good wearing it.

"Girl, give me that red scarf."

Spending this unexpected windfall felt effortless, like finding money on the road—once you spend it, it's just one word: awesome!

People buying things at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, seeing Da Kui cradling pile after pile, stared with envious eyes, pointing and chatting.

Even the sales clerk herself was utterly shocked by Lu Cheng's sweeping buying style.

The average person wouldn't buy like that; take milk candy, even a child who's starving would at most buy one piece, yet this person demanded three whole packs.

The girl wrote those items in the register; her wrist grew sore. Finally she tore off the slip, clipped it with the iron clamp above her head, gave it a hard flick, and along the wire it clattered, landing at the checkout counter.

All that stuff only cost a total of 27 yuan 6 jiao 2 fen.

If Mom Chen Xianglan found out, she'd definitely scold him for being wasteful.

At noon we went to the State-run Hotel, ordered six meat dishes and two bowls of rice, and ate so messily that oil dripped from both of our mouths.

We still had a fair amount of cash left, but the food coupons were used up; once on the train, we could only go through internal accounting first.

When we arrived at the platform, Lu Cheng sat there cracking sunflower seeds, Da Kui was eating candy—both milk candy and fruit candy together—so his cheeks were puffed out.

"How about it, Da Kui, staying with me is better, right?"

Da Kui, with candy all over his mouth, could only mumble, "Um, okay, the squad leader is good to me."

At five p. m., the train finally stopped at the platform.

Lu Cheng noticed that among the comrades getting off the train, some were from the Siping Railway Branch.

Needless to say, they certainly came by catching a ride, and now they intend to take the Snow Plow and those supplies.

"Da Kui, quick, stop eating, hide the gun!"