Chapter 1044: Keyumu Is Not Reconciled, Do It! [1044

In the milk tea house, Ke Youmu was very happy to see Li Long.

"Bring me a naan, a bowl of milk tea, pour me a saucer of honey, and bring a small plate of cream," Li Long said.

Ke Youmu said with a smile:

"Fine, fine, fine, right away!"

After speaking, he went inside and soon came out carrying a tray with the naan, milk tea, honey, and so on, and even threw in a small plate of dried fruit as a bonus.

After setting the things down, Ke Youmu didn't leave, but sat down opposite Li Long and said:

"I haven't seen you in a long time. Where have you been off to make a fortune?"

"I haven't been anywhere, just in Maxian. I opened a procurement station, so I've been busy over there with a lot of things and haven't been able to come by much. How is business here for you?" Li Long tore off a piece of naan, dipped it in the cream, and stuffed it into his mouth to eat.

Ke Youmu's very distinct Uyghur appearance combined with his fluent Yudong dialect made Li Long feel a sense of dissonance, so he decided to stuff his mouth and eat first to avoid laughing out loud.

"A procurement station? That must be very profitable, right?" Ke Youmu asked, and without waiting for Li Long to answer, he sighed and said, "Look at my place, the people who come are all old regulars. Now there are a lot of places selling food in the old street. In the past, there was little to eat, so everyone was willing to come to my place for milk tea.

Now there's all sorts of food, so who's still coming? Not many people left... My brother-in-law is still working here. Back when business was booming, I could pay him a hundred a month, but now even paying fifty is difficult..."

"That shouldn't be, right? There are so many people in the old street now..." Li Long looked outside. "Even if there are more places selling food, with more people, your place shouldn't be doing poorly, right?"

"My place serves ethnic food, and some people just don't like to eat it," Ke Youmu said with a bitter smile. "If I didn't lack the skill, I'd have thought about changing trades to make Hu La soup! There are so many people who love to eat that!"

"Then you really might not know how to make it," Li Long laughed. "In this season, drinking a bowl of Hu La soup early in the morning is really satisfying. But I reckon even if you made it, not everyone would buy it. You'd better stick to making your naan."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Ke Youmu said. "It's a good thing this building is my own, so I don't have to pay rent. Otherwise, that would be another expense... How is your procurement station doing?"

"It's alright," Li Long said. "I can earn a bit more than you. By the way, do you know anyone who can deliver mutton regularly? I've started a meat jerky business recently and need a batch of beef and mutton every half month... Do you have people in your ethnic group who do this?"

"Yes, how much meat do you need?" Ke Youmu asked. "What about the price?"

"Every half month, I need the meat of about a hundred sheep and ten cows," Li Long thought for a moment and said. "I want pure meat. As for the price, we'll calculate it at the wholesale rate—whatever the market price is, that's what it will be."

"Hey! That's a big deal!" Ke Youmu looked surprised. "Boss Li, you're doing big business!"

"Big what," Li Long tore off another piece of naan, this time dipping it in honey, and waved his hand while eating. "In a month, it's just a matter of twenty or thirty thousand; it doesn't count as big business."

"Oh my! Twenty or thirty thousand isn't big business? It seems you, Boss Li, have made a fortune!" Ke Youmu's eyes lit up instantly. "This job... can anyone do it?"

"Of course not, I have to see if they have the ability to work in this line," Li Long said while eating. "What I need is stability. Actually, I could do it myself; there's a livestock market right by the Mahe. I could get a batch of cattle and sheep there, find people to slaughter them, strip the meat, and I'd take the meat away and just find someone to handle the hides, offal, and bones."

"But I have other things to do, and handling this is quite troublesome, so I want to find someone reliable."

Actually, he could find people from his team, but those people were basically inseparable from the land, and his second brother, Li Anguo, would likely have the same mindset as Chen Xingbang, so Li Long didn't go over to look for him.

If Ke Youmu could do this, Li Long was willing to give him a chance.

As for those in the village, he would ask when he had time. Now Li Long felt that the meat jerky business could continue to grow; there was a large livestock market over in Beiting that was bigger than the one by the Mahe.

If anyone in the team was willing to do it, they could also give it a try.

But not everyone would dare to; after all, the first expenditure—advancing the cost for a hundred sheep and ten cows—was at least an investment of five or six thousand. Not everyone could come up with that, or dare to.

Although Li Long provided a guarantee, doing this basically meant setting aside the team's land, as finding people to slaughter, strip meat, and process hides and bones couldn't be done in a flash.

This kind of thing requires careful planning; if one link goes wrong, you'd likely lose a bunch of things first.

It's very troublesome.

If Ke Youmu wanted to do it, then he would hand it over to him. Anyway, who does it doesn't matter, right?

Li Long had already pointed out the path; how could Ke Youmu not understand?

He sat opposite Li Long and began to calculate in a low voice.

From the live-weight price of beef and mutton to transportation costs, as well as the labor found and the methods for processing hides, offal, and bones, and so on.

These were all things that needed careful consideration.

It was impossible to make a decision on a whim—the first investment of five or six thousand, half a ten-thousand-yuan household—this wasn't like a person's monthly salary in later generations that you could just spend.

Five or six thousand at this time was an amount some people couldn't scrape together even after selling everything the family owned, and Ke Youmu, having run a milk tea house for so many years, couldn't come up with five or six thousand in cash either.

If he wanted to do this, he would have to borrow money.

The point was that borrowing money to do this still carried risks.

Li Long wasn't sure if he dared to take that risk.

"Boss Li, I'll take this job! But I need to know, where do I find you in Maxian? By the way, I remember you seem to be from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative?"

"Your memory is pretty good," Li Long took a sip of milk tea and said with a smile, "Ke Youmu, I said I was from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative—that was several years ago, wasn't it?"

"Hehe, we read the newspapers too! You are an advanced individual commended by the whole country, there were introductions about you... Otherwise, how would I dare to trust you? Based on the things you've done, I feel you are a person I can trust!"

So that title could also serve as an endorsement for himself at this time.

Li Long laughed.

"How about this: after I finish eating, if you have nothing to do here, I'll take you to my house to take a look. The first batch of meat jerky has just been finished, so I'll show you the way. Then, if you want to do it, get the meat delivered to me as soon as possible—it can't exceed three days, how about that? As for the price, just use the current market wholesale price!"

"Good!" Hearing Li Long say this, Ke Youmu felt completely at ease. Could the monk run away if the temple was still there? At this time, people's hearts really didn't have that many ulterior motives. In Ke Youmu's view, since Li Long was willing to let him go to his own home, it was equivalent to having great trust.

If he still didn't trust him, what else could he trust?

Besides, he was an advanced individual commended by the whole country; if he couldn't find him, couldn't he find the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of Maxian?

The matter was settled just like that.

Ke Youmu went inside first to tell his brother-in-law, then took off his apron and came out, still carrying a bag in his hand.

Li Long could smell it; there was the scent of naan in the bag, and he said with a smile:

"Going to my house, and you're still bringing naan?"

"Well, I can't go empty-handed, right? I see you've already picked up the meat, so I'll just bring a few naans."

That's quite nice.

After Li Long finished eating, Ke Youmu's brother-in-law cleared the plates and took them inside. Li Long then carried the meat and took Ke Youmu to the parking lot, putting the meat in a bag in the back. Ke Youmu sat in the passenger seat, sighing:

"This is my first time riding in a vehicle like this."

The jeep started up and drove east. When passing by the Mahe, Li Long pointed to the livestock market and said:

"There are already several herds of cattle and sheep waiting for someone to buy them there right now. Buying on such a large scale can be cheaper. Of course, depending on the quality of the cattle and sheep, the price varies. You should be able to tell—I'll tell you too, the beef and mutton you bring must be good, then the price can be raised a bit; if it's not good, then I don't mind lowering it."

"Don't worry about that!" Ke Youmu said with a smile. "Don't look at me speaking Yudong dialect; when it comes to beef and mutton, I'm an expert. Actually, if you hadn't mentioned this, I was planning to open a barbecue stall in a few days; otherwise, just milk tea and naan really isn't profitable anymore."

"Actually, a barbecue stall should still be profitable," Li Long said sincerely.

"That certainly wouldn't earn as much as delivering beef and mutton to you," Ke Youmu said with a smile. "If you can take this much beef and mutton every month, I could become a ten-thousand-yuan household in half a year... This money is easy to earn! Boss Li, you are my God of Wealth!"