Chapter 83

When the horse cart reached the county town, it was exactly noon, so Li Long said to Tao Daqiang:

"Let's go eat something first, then come back. The supply and marketing cooperative should be on lunch break now."

The two went to the meat canteen. Because the horse cart was outside, it wasn't convenient to go directly inside to eat, so they still bought a few large meat buns to eat outside.

The middle-aged man inside the restaurant recognized Li Long and asked with a smile:

"How are you selling this mutton?"

"One yuan per kilogram for retail," Li Long said while eating a bun. "But this is wholesale; the supply and marketing cooperative wants ten sheep."

"One yuan, and no meat coupons needed?"

"Of course not."

"Not bad. The meat looks good. It was just slaughtered, wasn't it?" The middle-aged man was an expert and could tell at a glance.

"Yes, just hauled down from the mountains."

"You can get fresh grass-fed sheep from the mountains?" The middle-aged man's eyes lit up. "Can you get more? If you can, how about bringing two for our canteen?"

"Sure." Li Long was naturally willing to do business he encountered, so he asked: "Do you want the offal?"

"Yes, if it's washed clean, we want it." Seeing Li Long finish his bun, the middle-aged man handed him a cigarette. "Although many people eat meat here, the offal is also a good dish. If someone orders it, we naturally make it, but there isn't much offal in the butcher shop."

"It's easy to store in this cold winter, so I can get quite a lot. It just depends on how much you want." Li Long thought of the sheep offal at Halimu's place, lit the cigarette, and took a puff.

The middle-aged man also handed Tao Daqiang a cigarette. Tao Daqiang took it with a flushed face but didn't smoke it.

"My name is Zhong Guoqiang, and I'm the manager of the meat canteen," the middle-aged man said with a smile. "If you have the goods, just bring them to me, and I'll collect them depending on the situation. How about that?"

"Do you collect game?" Li Long remembered that he actually liked the feeling of hunting. "I can get wild boar, wolves, roe deer, and the like."

"Forget the wolves. As for the others, we collect them, but not many, since we don't do wholesale here and usually just use them for cooking," Zhong Guoqiang thought for a moment and said. "It's a good thing it's winter now, so we can take a bit more."

"That's fine. Whenever I get anything, I'll bring it to you." Li Long was very happy; this was equivalent to adding another sales channel.

After all, it was impossible to only get the high-quality goods collected by the purchasing station when going into the mountains. Hunting could actually yield quite a lot of meat, and his own family couldn't finish it all. Especially after the snow melted, the family wouldn't be able to store it, so finding a place to sell it for money was naturally the best thing.

Zhong Guoqiang was still busy, so after Li Long and the others finished their buns, they led the horse cart to the courtyard of the supply and marketing cooperative.

The old gatekeeper, Mr. Li, was quite happy to see them arrive and invited Li Long into the room to warm up by the fire.

"It's alright, sir. We'll wait for Section Chief Li to arrive."

"He should be here in about ten minutes," the old man said. "You guys are something else, already bringing sheep over—"

Li Long wanted to know how much Section Chief Li Xiangqian would pay for his sheep, so he asked:

"Sir, how much does your cooperative pay for sheep?"

"For these sheep, I'd say at least eighty cents to a yuan, right?" The old man wasn't sure. "It depends on what Little Li says; he makes the decisions on procurement."

Hearing that the price was decent, Li Long felt reassured.

Twenty minutes later, Li Long felt his feet were about to freeze stiff. He kept shifting his feet in the snow, and finally, he saw Li Xiangqian walking over, swaying from side to side.

Before he even got close, one could smell the scent of alcohol.

"Yo, young man, you really brought the sheep." Li Xiangqian had seen the cart loaded with sheep from far away, but he wasn't in a hurry and only said when he got close:

"Mm, these sheep look like they were just slaughtered. Ten, right?" "Yes, ten for now." Li Long spoke with hidden meaning and didn't commit to anything.

"What's the matter, you want to see the price, right?" Although Li Xiangqian had been drinking, his mind was very clear, and he immediately understood Li Long's meaning. "Let me see. Your sheep are fresh mutton, but they aren't fat enough, and there are old sheep, right?"

Hearing him pick faults, Tao Daqiang couldn't help but feel impatient before Li Long could even speak.

These were clearly good sheep; how could this person be like this?

When they went to sell sheep at the sugar factory, the people there didn't say a word and just weighed them and paid.

Li Long could see Tao Daqiang's displeasure and hurriedly reached out to pull him, signaling him not to speak. Tao Daqiang also reacted; Li Long was in charge, and he just needed to listen.

How could Brother Long not see that this person was picking faults? He had been reckless.

Li Xiangqian said several things, but didn't hear Li Long retort, which surprised him. Logically, Li Long was a hot-blooded young man, and in such a situation, he would usually retort if he picked a few faults. Li Long's performance today made him look at him with new eyes.

Seeing Li Long just smiling there without taking the bait, he lost interest in continuing. He reached out and knocked on the mutton, saying:

"But since you've brought them, I'll take them. Sixty cents per kilogram. If you agree, bring them into the yard to be weighed. If you don't agree, then take them away."

!.

"Alright then, Section Chief Li, see you later."

Upon hearing sixty cents, Li Long didn't even bother to haggle. He took the reins and said to Tao Daqiang:

"Daqiang, let's go."

Li Xiangqian was dumbfounded. Shouldn't they be haggling, and then he would be in control of the situation? Why wasn't this young man playing by the rules?

Old Man Li, who was watching the excitement at the gate, was also surprised. He rolled his eyes, reacted, and laughed:

"Xiangqian, you messed up, didn't you? They aren't taking your bait! You don't think they can't sell these sheep, do you?"

"Well, besides here, where else can they sell ten sheep at once?" Li Xiangqian still didn't believe it and continued to be stubborn:

"Second Uncle, I'll put it this way: within three minutes, he'll have to turn around and beg me to take these sheep!"

"That's not certain!" Old Man Li could see that Li Long was genuinely leaving, so he waved his hand and said, "You, you've been a purchaser for too long and think everything is under your control. Today, it's really not certain!"

After saying that, he shouted at Li Long:

"Young man, where do you plan to sell those sheep?"

The old man had been good to Li Long before, so Li Long couldn't ignore him. He didn't stop, but turned his head and replied:

"Shicheng Sugar Factory. They need sheep too, for the Spring Festival welfare..."

"Damn it," Li Xiangqian suddenly realized that people didn't necessarily have to sell sheep in Maxian! Shicheng had a large population, and its purchasing power was much stronger than Maxian's!

"How about it, Section Chief Li, the sheep have flown away! I heard you told others you could get sheep..."

"I can get sheep without him!" Li Xiangqian continued to be stubborn. "There are plenty of people raising sheep in the county..."

"But can you get ten at once? And delivered to your door?"

Li Xiangqian fell silent.

But he was still a bit unwilling. Was he really going to be manipulated by a young man like this?

Thanks to the book friend "Zoushentou" for the tip. Thank you all for your monthly tickets and recommendation tickets. It's Friday again today. I wonder if the recommendation notification will come? I get nervous every Friday. I hope there will be good news.

(End of chapter)