[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw":3,"chapter-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-74":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Reborn in 1981: Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1933955,2572,"Chapter 74: Striving to Be Worthy of Friends","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-74",74,"\u003Cp>Coming out of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's sales office, Li Long still felt unwilling to give up. He led the horse by the reins, wandered around nearby, and then spotted the main gate of the cooperative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long immediately realized that going to the sales office earlier had been useless. Procurement wasn't the clerks' job; they were only responsible for selling, not buying, so naturally they would use some principled words to brush him off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if he met the actual procurement staff, wouldn't they be more flexible?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long led the cart by the reins to the entrance of the cooperative's courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the guardhouse beside the gate; one could tell they were burning plenty of coal inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long walked over and gently knocked on the window covered with plastic sheeting. The gate opened, and an old man saw Li Long, asking expressionlessly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who are you looking for?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old grandpa, have a smoke,\" Li Long said with a smile, pulling a crushed Dahqian cigarette pack from his pocket, taking one out, and handing it over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Li Long offer a cigarette, the old man's expression softened slightly. He took the cigarette and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, just say what you need. It's too cold outside; I don't want all the warmth in the room to escape.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the old man clip the cigarette behind his ear, Li Long simply shoved the remaining half-pack of Dahqian into the man's hand and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old grandpa, I'd like to ask who is in charge of procurement here at the cooperative, and is he around now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In charge of procurement? Young man, do you want to sell something?\" The old man glanced at Li Long's cart, smiled, took the Dahqian cigarette from behind his ear, put it back in the pack, and slipped the pack into his pocket, saying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you asked others, they might not tell you. At our cooperative, the section chief in charge of procurement for the county is Li Xiangqian. He happened to be bringing back a truckload of raisins from Eastern Xinjiang today. The notice I received says he arrives at noon. If you're in a hurry, you can wait.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long thought for a moment and decided to wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, come inside,\" the old man said, seeing Li Long intended to wait outside, and gestured with his hand. \"Park your cart right beside the guardhouse; you can see it through the window, and nothing will be stolen.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you, old grandpa,\" Li Long said without standing on ceremony. He tied the horse to the utility pole beside the guardhouse and quickly entered the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, the room was truly warm. The cast-iron stove burned bright red, packed full of coal. As expected of the cooperative, a wealthy unit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long took off his coat, and his face felt a stinging itch. This was a normal reaction to slight frostbite meeting heat, which Li Long didn't mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, where are you from?\" The old man, finally finding someone idle to chat with, started a conversation. \"What made you think of coming to the cooperative? Do you have something to sell?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, my friend is in the mountains. His sheep are quite good, so I thought I'd help sell them. I figure the cooperative is the only place that buys sheep in large quantities.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long later learned that cooperatives in this era didn't just sell things; they were also responsible for purchasing local specialties from various regions, balancing supply and demand. So, when he wanted to help Yushanjiang and Harimu sell their sheep, the cooperative was the first place he thought of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sheep? That's good,\" the old man said with a smile. \"Don't say, the cooperative does buy sheep, especially in winter. Every wealthy unit wants to distribute some good things for the holidays. Is that what's in your cart? Are you selling? How much per kilogram?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Retail is one yuan, and no meat coupons are needed,\" Li Long said. \"If you want to buy wholesale, the price is different.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, young man, you know your stuff,\" the old man said with a smile. \"Then sell me some of your mutton. The New Year is coming soon; every family needs to prepare a couple of meat dishes. The meat sold in the butcher shop requires coupons, and hardly anyone has many of those.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, but I don't have a scale on hand...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's simple. You keep an eye on the entrance for me while I go find a scale. I can even help you shout to attract customers.\" The old man put on his coat and cotton hat and headed out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long hurriedly followed. Seeing Li Long come out, the old man asked curiously:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why are you coming out? It's so warm inside; why not stay in?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old grandpa, if you leave, can I stay in the room alone? That wouldn't be proper. I'll just wait outside. Besides, I've already warmed up by the fire...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, you have principles!\" the old man said with a smile. \"Just for your sincerity, I'll help you out. Come, let me look at your mutton first.\" Li Long lifted a sheep from the cart. The sheep had only been slaughtered two days ago and frozen immediately after. The meat was a vibrant red, and since Harimu and Yushanjiang had specially selected these sheep for Li Long, they were all plump and sturdy, looking very fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine mutton. Just for this sheep, I must weigh out a leg!\" The old man immediately recognized the quality of the meat and said with a smile:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, wait a moment.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, the old man, draped in his coat, walked toward the adjacent sales office. Despite being over sixty, he moved quickly. In less than three minutes, he returned with a scale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This platform scale had a pan on one side for placing items and a graduated beam on the other, with a small hanging platform below for placing round counterweights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man placed the scale on the ground and said to Li Long:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come, come, cut me a hind leg first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long took his knife and quickly cut off a hind leg for the old man. From the time he first acquired the frozen sheep until now, Li Long had butchered several, so he knew exactly where to cut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Four kilograms,\" Li Long said, placing the leg on the scale pan. The old man squatted down, adding counterweights one by one, and finally said, \"Fair enough?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old grandpa, just count it as four kilograms,\" Li Long said with a smile. \"Round it down.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, then you take the money. I'll go get people in a moment.\" The old man handed Li Long two two-yuan notes, took the leg, and went back inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After putting the leg away, the old man came out of the guardhouse again and entered the courtyard. A short while later, he returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now, Li Long had already put the two decent-looking two-yuan notes into his chest pocket, deciding to keep them and not spend them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, wait a moment; people will be here soon,\" the old man said with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, within five minutes, people started coming out one after another, beginning to ask the price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You take three kilograms, I'll take two.\" Soon, Li Long's two sheep (now incomplete) were reduced to just two sheep necks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What's that? It hasn't even been skinned?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, doesn't look like a sheep either.\" Someone saw the roe deer on the cart and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's a roe deer, a gift from a friend in the mountains,\" Li Long said, putting the money away and explaining, \"There wasn't enough time, so it hasn't thawed yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A roe deer? Wonder how it tastes?\" the questioner sounded curious. \"Are you selling it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can't sell that,\" Li Long waved his hand. \"It hasn't been skinned, and it's frozen, so it's hard to deal with...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he was speaking, he heard a car horn honk. Turning his head, he saw a truck driving into the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Young man, weren't you looking for Section Chief Li from the procurement section? Well, here he comes!\" the old man said with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Long felt a bit nervous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The data for the third round of recommendations yesterday was quite good. Thank you all for your support. Thanks to reader 160827132928773 for the donation, and thanks to everyone for the monthly and recommendation tickets and various suggestions. I hope to maintain this data today, and I hope everyone enjoys reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I recommend a book, also a period drama: \"Period: My Backyard is a Trash Can for Ten Thousand Worlds.\" I took a look; the opening is quite good, with a strong sense of the era. If you're interested, go check it out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1482,"2026-06-14T06:06:39.549Z",1,"Qwen3.5 122B","1b31e72cb999efc17822a6bd55350e5173050508517fbac1d245703a1c1d4855","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-75","reborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-chapter-73",180,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-in-1981-fishing-and-hunting-in-the-northw-cover.jpg"]