Chapter 1071: The Person Who Was Cut Off Is Causing Trouble

With a calm exhale, at the headquarters of the Hu County Forestry Team, Abulaiti faced a Han merchant and stated quietly:

"There's nothing I can do about this; we never signed a contract. You haven't shown up for so long, so naturally, I sold those fritillaria bulbs to someone else."

Hearing this, Zheng Sanyang felt this ethnic team leader was somewhat shameless.

Were the cigarettes he had previously gifted not good enough to smoke, or were the electronic watches he had given not good enough to wear?

How could he suddenly sell the fritillaria bulbs he had promised to him?

Zheng Sanyang bought fritillaria bulbs from Captain Abulaiti and resold them to medicinal herb merchants in the interior; for every kilogram of dried bulbs, he could earn twenty to thirty yuan.

In a year, he could collect over a thousand kilograms of dried bulbs from here, which meant a net profit of twenty to thirty thousand yuan!

What did he give in return? Just bringing some cheap goods from the interior that weren't available here for the local team leader, plus a negligible transportation fee!

Having made money and earned the gratitude of the local team leader and forest rangers, Zheng Sanyang was exceedingly proud.

Gradually, he even felt he had improved the living conditions of this forestry team and considered himself their benefactor.

During this year's peak season for fritillaria, on his last visit he had collected over five hundred kilograms; logically, he should have collected even more this time, yet there was none left!

The problem was that he had already promised supply to the medicinal herb merchants on his end, and they had agreed to raise the price; as long as he transported the goods back, he could earn an extra ten yuan per kilogram!

Zheng Sanyang nearly shouted at Abulaiti:

"I've already collected a deposit on my end! Now you tell me the fritillaria bulbs are gone—what do you expect me to do?"

"Then go collect fritillaria bulbs somewhere else!" Abulaiti was not afraid of him. Ever since learning that this man surnamed Zheng was buying bulbs from him at a price one-third below the market rate, Abulaiti had grown to dislike him.

Making a profit is fine, but don't overdo it. You did bring some supplies to the Forestry Team, but compared to the substantial items Li Long brings every time, the things this man surnamed Zheng brings are flashy but useless; they sound impressive but are actually of little use.

Without comparison, it might have been acceptable, but once compared, this side amounts to nothing at all!

The slight gratitude originally felt toward Zheng Sanyang had long been cast south of Northern Tianshan; all that remained was dislike.

This person was too wicked! He made money off them and still deceived them!

Zheng Sanyang clearly sensed the change in Abulaiti's tone, and panic set in; his former sense of superiority vanished, and now he only wanted to obtain fritillaria bulbs as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, he couldn't afford to offend the medicinal herb merchants on his end! He couldn't even afford to pay the penalty for breach of contract; he might even have to flee far away.

"Captain Abulaiti, my tone just now was inappropriate; I apologize." Zheng Sanyang softened his voice. "Please help me out. I know you can source large quantities of fritillaria bulbs here. I don't need much; eight hundred kilograms will suffice! How about this: I can raise the price further. Originally we were at thirty-five yuan per kilogram; how about forty-five now?"

"No deal. I already told you: my fritillaria bulbs here are sold out. Go somewhere else."

Forty-five? Li Long's price was sixty to seventy yuan; with such a huge difference, only a fool would agree to this deal with Zheng Sanyang.

Moreover, Li Long had just transported a truckload of fritillaria bulbs away the day before yesterday; at most, there were only about a hundred kilograms left in the Forestry Team's warehouse, far from enough for Zheng Sanyang. Even if there were enough, Abulaiti would no longer trust this fellow.

Zheng Sanyang was driven out of the Forestry Team headquarters by the forest rangers.

Abulaiti still had matters to attend to and had no desire to deal with Zheng Sanyang any longer. After ordering someone to escort Zheng Sanyang out, he told the others that henceforth, whenever this person came to the Forestry Team, he was not to be welcomed.

Having cheated the Forestry Team out of so much money, he still wanted to come back and continue deceiving them? Where was there such a good thing?

After leaving the headquarters with his vehicle, Zheng Sanyang did not depart immediately; instead, he circled around the Forestry Team twice before locating the last row of dormitories.

He got out of the car, walked up to the dormitory, and called out twice:

"Abudula! Abudula!"

An ethnic man wearing a vest, reeking slightly of alcohol, emerged from the room. The vest failed to conceal the thick hair on his chest. He glanced at Zheng Sanyang, then turned expressionlessly to the back of the dormitory, loosened his cloth belt, and began urinating against the base of the wall.

The base of the wall already bore a stain from his frequent urination; the earth on the wall had been washed away to form a notch, emitting a foul odor.

Although frequently urinated upon, whether due to the soil or the urine, no saltpeter moss had grown in the stained area.

After finishing, Abudula shook himself a few times, fastened his waist belt, turned around, walked to the front, and asked Zheng Sanyang expressionlessly:

"What do you want?"

Zheng Sanyang hadn't expected that even Abudula, who had always curried favor with him, had changed like this. He roughly understood that something must have happened. His eyes darted; he pulled a bottle of liquor from his bag, handed it over, and said with a smile:

"I brought a bottle of liquor from the interior—fine liquor! One of our nation's Top Ten Famous Liquors: Fenjiu! Have a taste!"

"Don't try to fool me with that fake liquor!" Abudula had learned his lesson. Last time, in order to pry for information, Zheng Sanyang had given Abudula a bottle of liquor; after drinking it, Abudula had suffered a terrible headache.

It wasn't even as good as the bulk liquor sold at the storefront in his former residence.

Later, someone told Abudula that it must have been fake liquor.

Abudula was furious; this person was extremely wicked!

"Rest assured, this time it's genuine fine liquor!" To gather information, Zheng Sanyang had this time spared no expense. This bottle had originally been intended for Captain Abulaiti, but since Abulaiti had directly turned against him, he would have to let this Abudula have it instead.

Half-believing, half-doubting, Abudula accepted the liquor, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, smacked his lips, and thought: Hmm, this liquor is indeed good this time.

"Speak, then. What is it?" Although Abudula loved drinking, he was not foolish. Zheng Sanyang had specifically come to find him and offer liquor; there must be something he needed help with.

"I want to ask: who bought up the fritillaria bulbs from your team?" Zheng Sanyang knew there was no need to be polite with such a person; even if you were polite, they wouldn't remember your kindness. Better to treat it as a straight transaction: one bottle of liquor for one piece of information. In his view, it was worth it.

"They were bought by a good merchant," Abudula said, taking another sip. "Much better than you!"

"A good merchant?" Zheng Sanyang snorted irritably. "What's so good about him?"

"He offers high prices! The liquor he brings comes by the case; we all have some, and it's fine liquor! Unlike you, who just brings some junk and tries to buy our goods at low prices!"

Abudula laid bare Zheng Sanyang's true nature without any politeness, and after exposing him, took another sip of liquor.

"Then where is he from?" Zheng Sanyang found it hard to refute, but he also knew what he needed to do, so he asked directly.

"He came from the west. It's useless for you to look for him. Our team leader and all of us remember him clearly. He is a model of ethnic unity; he treats our ethnic people extremely well!

Before, I thought you weren't bad, but now, compared to him, you are extremely wicked! From now on, we don't like you; we don't like Han people like you!"

Zheng Sanyang left in a huff, but before departing, he had at least obtained specific information.

Coming from the west and being a model of ethnic unity—after driving back to the county town, Zheng Sanyang quickly identified the specific target: Li Long.

A National Model of Ethnic Unity, an Autonomous Region Model of Ethnic Unity, and a Zizhizhou Model of Ethnic Unity.

A native of Maxian, extremely wealthy, and he even operated a purchasing station.

Zheng Sanyang had originally thought of retaliating against Li Long, but the more he investigated, the more he felt that trying to mess with Li Long would be quite difficult.

The other party was a local dragon; he himself was far from being a powerful dragon—he wasn't even a powerful snake.

What should he do? If he didn't retaliate somehow, the anger in his heart would not subside; moreover, what was he to do about all these fritillaria bulb orders?

Zheng Sanyang spent a night at the county guesthouse, pondering endlessly without arriving at a concrete solution, but he knew that simply waiting was futile, so he decided to first visit Li Long's acquisition station in Maxian.

If he could use the orders on hand to trick some fritillaria bulbs out of them, it would at least vent his anger; if that failed, he would have to devise another plan.

When Zheng Sanyang arrived at the acquisition station, it was already open for business; Gu Gu Bo Yuan was inspecting fritillaria bulbs delivered by second-hand dealers or herb diggers, and seeing the long queue lining the courtyard, Zheng Sanyang felt an intense envy.

Then came his indignation: You're already making so much money, so why do you have to cut off my livelihood?

This surge of anger and fire rushed to his head; Zheng Sanyang ordered the driver to park the vehicle outside, then tucked his black bag under his arm and walked in.

He pushed straight through to the counter; when people in line told him to mind the order, a single sentence—"I'm here to buy fritillaria bulbs"—silenced them.

Those selling fritillaria bulbs and those buying them certainly received different treatment; naturally, these dealers did not wish to obstruct the acquisition station's money-making operation, and moreover, they were curious what price this new buyer would offer.

Gu Gu Bo Yuan had just finished registering and paying for twelve kilograms of dried fritillaria bulbs from the herb digger before him when Zheng Sanyang shoved his way in.

Liang Shuang Cheng, assisting nearby, saw someone cutting in line and immediately stepped forward, saying:

"No cutting in line! Go to the back of the queue!"

"I'm here to buy fritillaria bulbs—a big order!" Zheng Sanyang, throwing caution to the wind, shouted loudly, "What's this? Are you turning away money delivered right to your door?"

His imposing manner was quite formidable, truly startling Liang Shuang Cheng into hesitation; unable to block him easily, Liang Shuang Cheng turned to look at Gu Gu Bo Yuan.

"You're here to buy fritillaria bulbs?" Gu Gu Bo Yuan glanced at Zheng Sanyang, shook his head, and said, "All the fritillaria bulbs here are already under contract; sorry, we cannot sell any, please leave."

Zheng Sanyang had not expected the person in charge to completely ignore his provocation, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

Fortunately, he possessed some quick wit; seeing that Gu Gu Bo Yuan was so young, he clearly did not resemble the Li Long described in the rumors, so Zheng Sanyang's eyes darted as he said:

"I'm looking for Li Long! We had an agreement; on what grounds do you make the decisions?"

Even if he couldn't pull it off, causing some trouble for them would suffice!