Chapter 229: Li Long, only a person like you can be called a friend

The price of the snow leopard skin was beyond Li Long's expectations.

"Little Li, this snow leopard skin... where did you get it?" Chen Hongjun looked at the snow leopard skin and asked with a slightly serious expression.

"Sent by a herdsman friend in the mountains." Li Long said with a calm face, "They lack supplies in the mountains, so they are exchanging this for some things. By the way, they said, this snow leopard sneaked into their summer pasture's sheep pen, bit to death quite a few sheep, and even when chased, it wouldn't run, so it was beaten to death."

Li Long knew that the first version of the domestic animal protection law would take several more years to appear, so killing a snow leopard now was not illegal. It was just that he never expected that Halimu and the others could actually kill a snow leopard in the summer pasture!

In later generations, this thing was rarely seen for twenty or thirty years, and it was only after a period of time that protection efforts were increased that this snow mountain elf gradually appeared in people's field of vision.

"This snow leopard skin is relatively complete. In the whole region, no, it should be in the country, such a complete skin should be rare to see. This thing... itself survives in high mountains, really didn't expect anyone could still hit one!"

"Then old Comrade Chen, are you collecting it here? If not, I'll go to Shicheng or Wucheng, my herdsman friend is still very anxious..."

"Collect, how can we not collect it?" As soon as Chen Hongjun heard Li Long was going to other places, he immediately pulled the snow leopard skin toward his chest and said solemnly:

"Little Li, you have really helped me a lot. With this snow leopard skin, my purchase task for this year can be considered completed ahead of schedule..."

Li Long smiled and said:

"Comrade Chen, you just tell me directly, how much money can you collect it for? If it's suitable, I won't go to Shicheng."

"Little Li, I'll tell you the truth, I am collecting such things here now, the highest authority is three thousand yuan..."

"Is this skin that valuable?" Li Long was startled.

"That's impossible." Chen Hongjun waved his hand and said, "Although snow leopard skin is rare, to tell you the truth, this skin is not as good-looking as tiger skin or leopard skin, the pattern is black and white, so, except for specific groups of people, the demand is not as wide as other skins... This skin is relatively complete, I'll set the price at eleven hundred yuan..."

"Too little, too little!" Li Long had basically determined the value of the snow leopard skin when Chen Hongjun lost his composure earlier. He hoped to strive for the greatest benefit for Halimu and the others, so he said:

"At least fifteen hundred yuan, otherwise I'll go to Shicheng."

"Little Li," Chen Hongjun smiled bitterly, "We can be considered old acquaintances, from the time you first sold deer antlers, have you ever seen me give you a false price? Your things are good, I will definitely give the best price, this fifteen hundred..."

"Old Comrade Chen, if this were my own thing, I would definitely not say a word and just sell it. But those herdsman friends of mine in the mountains, their lives are truly bitter. Although they raise sheep, those sheep can't be eaten or sold casually. Being able to exchange for some money to improve their lives can only be through such occasional hunting—this is not one herdsman family, there are more than ten herdsman families in that summer pasture...

And you also said, this snow leopard skin is very rare, very scarce, and in terms of rarity, it's not inferior to that tiger skin. So fifteen hundred yuan is really not much..."

"Little Li, you are really... making it difficult for me!" Chen Hongjun hesitated.

"Old Comrade Chen, actually I have some money in my hand, if this snow leopard skin really can't sell for that price, I'll first use my own money to buy things for those herdsman friends, and I believe that for this skin, other purchase stations should have people who want it."

"Alright, Little Li," Chen Hongjun thought for a while and said, "Then fifteen hundred, I'll collect it. But you have to guarantee that in the future, if there are such good things, you will still send them to me."

"That's for sure." Li Long smiled, "Comrade Chen, don't worry, you also said, we have cooperated for so long, whatever things I get, aren't they all sent to you the first time?"

Although Chen Hongjun knew that fifteen hundred was set a bit high, in reality, the value of the snow leopard skin was definitely still higher.

He issued a ticket, verified the goods again, and then had people bring money to Li Long.

A thick stack of "Big Unity" (ten-yuan bills), Li Long felt heavy holding it, and his heart was also happy.

He didn't intend to make a price difference in the middle. Now going to buy batteries, he also intended to buy some other things, and then hand the remaining money to Halimu.

And those snow lotus flowers would be the reward for Halimu letting him help.

In the department store building, Little Liu almost couldn't believe her ears:

"What did you say? You said you want thirty boxes of batteries?"

"Yes." Li Long said calmly.

Li Long now had stubble, his hair was also a bit messy, looking not at all compatible with his previous spirit.

Little Liu now probably already guessed that Li Long should be frequently entering the mountains, his clothes weren't clean either, her psychology was slightly balanced, just still carrying a few points of pity, why was this person working so hard?

When Li Long said he wanted thirty boxes of No. 1 batteries, it really scared her.

Which good family would want so many batteries?

"I also want thirty bags of salt, thirty bags of granulated sugar." Li Long continued his shopping list, "By the way, also want some brick tea, come thirty blocks too. Are your chicken cakes here halal? Take five bags."

Little Liu was a bit stunned, was this person that rich? Or was he engaging in speculation?

Li Long saw her suspicion, took out a certificate to show her:

"I am a part-time forest ranger for the forestry team, these things are brought for herdsman friends in the mountains."

"Alright, alright, I'll get the goods for you now." The older sister next to Little Liu nudged Little Liu and said with a smile, "Look at how you're going to pack it?"

"I'm riding a bicycle, carrying two sacks, I'll pack these things into two sacks and put them on both sides of the bicycle."

The things were brought over very quickly, and the salesperson very carefully wrapped the things in paper and bundled them with thin rope.

Li Long issued a ticket to pay, and after paying, began to pack things into the sacks. "Little Liu, I just saw, this young man... took out a thick stack of Big Unity—that stack hadn't been unwrapped yet, at least one thousand... really rich!" The older sister next to her whispered to Little Liu.

Little Liu's expression was a bit complicated.

Li Long packed the things into the sacks, adjusted them, carried them out, and placed them on both sides of the bicycle.

The sacks were a bit big, so Li Long had to be careful when riding. Fortunately, there were partitions on both sides of the bicycle's rear wheel now, so he didn't worry about the sacks getting tangled into the wheels.

Li Long went to the grain store again and bought a bag of flour. Actually, he wanted to buy more, but Halimu only had one horse and couldn't carry that many things.

Next was going to the pharmaceutical company, common medicines were all bought by the box. The staff here were also very surprised, and Li Long's certificate played a role again.

The bicycle was packed full, Li Long didn't dare to delay, rode the bicycle, and headed toward the mountains.

By the time Li Long rode to Halimu's winter den, it was already past five o'clock in the afternoon. At this time, the sun was still very high, and Li Long saw Halimu clearing weeds in front of the winter den. He had brought quite a few thick logs, and Li Long guessed he intended to block the door completely.

Seeing Li Long appear, Halimu immediately greeted him, and then asked:

"Why did you buy so many things?"

"They are all needed." Li Long and Halimu pushed the bicycle and things across the gully together, arrived in front of the winter den, and then he rested for a while and began to tell Halimu the situation.

!.

"Halimu, I'll tell you now, that snow leopard skin sold for fifteen hundred yuan. Buying these things cost about five hundred yuan in total, and the remaining one thousand yuan is for you."

Li Long took out the money and handed it to Halimu, Halimu hurriedly waved his hand:

"How could it sell for so much? I don't want this money, I can't want it..."

The two declined for a long time. Seeing Halimu looking like he was going to get angry, Li Long had to say:

"Then alright, I'll save this money for you first."

"No no no, not saving it..." Halimu said seriously, "I exchange things for things, we think it's suitable, that's it. I originally thought of exchanging for batteries, didn't expect you to exchange for so many things..."

"Halimu, my Duosen, your concept needs to change." Li Long said with a smile, "Now is not the past, it's not like you exchanged for suitable things, then felt it was fair, and it was okay. In reality, the value of the things you took is far higher than the things you wanted to exchange for... If this continues, you will suffer a loss."

"Duosen, would you let us suffer a loss?" Halimu asked back, and then smiled again, "Do you know, if it weren't for you, many children in our summer pasture wouldn't know that radios exist, wouldn't know how big the outside world is, wouldn't know what kind of life our Kazakh compatriots are living in other places, wouldn't know that life could actually be this good...

Why are the radios used up so fast? The summer pasture on the high mountains has signals, we can listen to the radio, so we listen every day, in order to let everyone hear, the volume is turned to the maximum, and it has to be placed outside, so the batteries are used up so fast...

But we are really happy. This summer, we lived happier than any summer before, our children learned quite a few things from the radio, our people are really grateful to you..."

Li Long didn't speak. But he still felt that he needed to instill a habit of reasonable exchange in Halimu and the others; otherwise, they would really suffer a loss.

But even if they suffered a loss, with Halimu and the others' personalities, they likely wouldn't take it to heart, they had their own scale in their hearts.

"Those jade stones need to be sold in Wucheng," Li Long had to talk about other things, "So now I'll just put them aside, wait until they are sold, then we can talk about exactly how much there is, but the money shouldn't be little either."

"Then I won't care, that's your business..." Halimu smiled cunningly again, "That's your thing. I have already exchanged for things far exceeding our expectations."

"Then like this, I brought pencils," Li Long took out the pencils he specifically prepared and said, "These medicines, you must record them on top, otherwise it will be troublesome if you eat the wrong ones later. Same as last time, come, I'll tell you what these medicines are for..."

Medicine was a necessity. Although the Kazakh nation had its own herbal tradition, for some acute illnesses, these patent medicines were still needed; they were efficient and timely.

Halimu also knew this principle, so when Li Long told him, he was also recording it seriously.

"These five bags of chicken cakes are halal, you all can eat them, look, there's a mark on top. Don't just eat naan on the way back, the nutrition isn't enough." Li Long specifically took out the chicken cakes to talk about them.

Halimu smiled, took the chicken cakes, and stuffed them into the bag where he originally put the naan.

After getting these things done, Halimu transferred the things onto his horse's back and said:

"Duosen, returning this trip, maybe I will come down later, maybe I won't come down until the transfer. If you are not in the wooden cabin when I come down, how should I find you?"

"You go to the supply and marketing cooperative in the county, or the post and telecommunications bureau, call our village." Li Long used a pencil to record the village name, wrote it on a box and said, "If I'm not there, you can find me by calling."

"Alright, then I'm leaving." Halimu rode his horse and said: "Thank you."

After finishing, Halimu turned the horse's head and hurried toward the mountains.

Li Long watched Halimu's figure disappear before riding his bicycle and turning back to the wooden cabin.

Busy all day, it felt like a dream.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 230 =====