Chapter 80

Li Long didn't say much more, just looked at Section Chief Hu.

"If all the mutton is like this, then I really would take some." Section Chief Hu finally made a decision. "But it depends on the situation. If the quality of the mutton you bring isn't as good as this, then that's another story."

"I can guarantee that." Li Long let out a long sigh of relief, remaining confident on the surface. "The sheep are being slaughtered right now. Fresh mutton, even if frozen for a day or two, won't change in quality."

"Alright then, I'll wait for you to deliver the mutton." Section Chief Hu nodded and said.

"I have to trouble you for one more thing." Li Long hurriedly stopped Section Chief Hu. "Should we set the price? If all the mutton is like this..."

Section Chief Hu looked at the leg of mutton in his hand again and said:

"If all the mutton is like this, then I can make the call—ninety cents per kilogram..."

"Section Chief Hu, I don't need meat coupons for this. Such good meat, not only do you need it here, but the textile mill also..."

"Then what price are you asking for?" Section Chief Hu was a bit displeased. This young man was a bit greedy. If the other party had asked for a yuan, he would have turned around and left.

"Ninety-five cents." Li Long smiled. "At least give our friends who are slaughtering the sheep five cents for their labor. It's such cold weather, and the temperature in the mountains is even lower..."

"Fine." Since it didn't hit Section Chief Hu's psychological bottom line, and Section Chief Hu had also spent time in the mountains and knew what the conditions were like there.

"Thank you, Section Chief Hu, I'm going to get the sheep now!" Although Li Long knew that the credibility of such verbal promises wasn't high, he was still very happy.

At least he didn't have to hang all his hopes on the supply and marketing cooperative.

Leaving the sugar refinery, Tao Daqiang realized something and reminded Li Long:

"Brother Long, you didn't take the leg of mutton back."

"I gave that to them." Li Long smiled. "We just told them we wanted to sell them sheep with empty words; why should they believe us? Section Chief Hu needs to have something to show others when he goes back so they know he can actually get sheep."

"Then what are we doing now?" Tao Daqiang understood and asked again.

"First, sell the fish, then head into the mountains."

They didn't have many fish left this time. After making a round of the old street and the textile mill residential area, they were sold out. Li Long and Tao Daqiang ate some flatbread and hurried toward the mountains.

In front of Halimu's winter camp, a dozen slaughtered sheep were frozen in the snow, and he was still busy skinning the sheep he had just slaughtered.

The old grandmother, his wife, and two children were all helping.

They didn't doubt Li Long's promise at all. In their way of thinking, if you promise a friend something, you have to do it.

"Halimu, I've slaughtered twelve sheep here," Yushanjiang rode over from afar, dragging a "meat bundle" wrapped in a large plastic sheet.

"I have fourteen here." Halimu smiled and said, "We can gather about thirty sheep today."

"That should satisfy Li Long." Yushanjiang tied up his horse and began to untie the "meat bundle."

"It should be enough." Halimu wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It's just that the smell of blood here is too strong; wolves might come tonight."

"Same here, but I can't wait." Yushanjiang smiled and said, "I'll set an ambush tonight to see how many wolves I can bag. That small wolf pack is too annoying; they come to steal sheep every now and then."

"Same here, let's see how many wolves we can bag tonight."

Just as the two were talking, Nasen, who had sharp eyes, suddenly pointed toward the mountain pass and shouted.

Everyone looked over in that direction.

"Li Long is here." Halimu said happily, "We can take a break today." "That's for sure." Yushanjiang also said happily, "Once these sheep are slaughtered, the fodder on my side will be just about enough."

Li Long and Tao Daqiang drove the horse cart to the "parking spot." He smiled, opened his arms, and said to Halimu:

"Adashi, Jaksimi!"

"Good, good, let's skip the hug." Halimu waved his hand and said, "I'm covered in blood."

"How many are there?" Li Long asked. "Did you bring Brother Yushanjiang's sheep too?"

"I brought them." Yushanjiang smiled and said, "We're in this together, so we'll sell them together."

"Time is tight, so I won't say much." Li Long said, "Let's load the cart now, as much as we can." The four grown men loaded the cart very quickly, but the horse cart had limited capacity. In the end, they only loaded twenty-two sheep, and even then, they had to use ropes to tie them down.

In this day and age, transport was mostly by horse or donkey cart, so loading was a basic skill for these men.

"I'm in a hurry to get the sheep to the buyer." Li Long took one hundred and twenty yuan from his pocket, divided it into two, and said to Halimu and Yushanjiang:

"This is the deposit. You take it, and after the sheep are sold, I'll come back and settle the account. By the way, if you don't eat the offal, leave it for me too."

Halimu and Yushanjiang tried to decline, but Li Long shoved the money into their hands and led the cart away.

He was really in a hurry. This money was what he had gathered from selling fish today. He wanted to give them more, but he really didn't have any more money on him.

!.

Halimu and Yushanjiang looked at each other and had no choice but to put the money away. Watching Li Long's cart leave the mountain pass, Yushanjiang said:

"I need to get back as soon as possible and clean up that offal."

"Me too." Halimu looked back at his doorway. "But it's good; a big problem is solved. At least I can sleep soundly now."

"That's the truth." Yushanjiang smiled and rode off at a gallop.

The fodder was enough, and there was no need to worry about the sheep dying off one by one when the snow melted. The mood was wonderful.

What did being tired matter?

Now, just empty out those sheep stomachs. Although there was no way to rinse the intestines, they could still be cleaned out a bit.

Li Long and Tao Daqiang carefully drove the horse cart to the gate of the sugar refinery.

The reason he didn't go to the supply and marketing cooperative was that Li Long felt the county cooperative's Section Chief Li would never pay ninety-five cents per kilogram.

Since they were paying more here, he would prioritize them.

The guard, Xiao Wang, looked at the heavily loaded cart and said in surprise:

"You got so many sheep in less than half a day? You said someone was slaughtering them specially—it was actually true?"

"Comrade Wang, right? Could you please give Section Chief Hu a call?" Li Long's nervous heart finally settled. The road was quite slippery, and he had been really worried that if the sheep rack collapsed halfway, he and Tao Daqiang wouldn't have been able to handle it on the side of the road.

Section Chief Hu appeared at the sugar refinery gate very quickly, and not just him, but other people from the factory as well.

"How about that? Factory Director, I wasn't talking nonsense!" Section Chief Hu was beaming. "How's our efficiency?"

It turned out that not long after Li Long left, the news that the factory was going to bring in sheep spread, all the way to the factory director.

The factory director thought it was a good thing, but someone said the sheep would arrive today, which put Section Chief Hu on the spot.

He hadn't dared to guarantee that Li Long would arrive that same day!

After all, it was just a verbal promise from the other party; how much could you trust that?

Now that the sheep had arrived, Section Chief Hu's heart finally settled. He still had to act calm and collected, as if everything was under control.

"Good, good, good. Section Chief Hu, you've done a great thing this time! Old Qin from the agricultural machinery factory was laughing at me, but this time I'll show him—what's that little bit of mutton he has? This is what you call benefits!"

(End of chapter)