Chapter 863

More than half of this bear hadn't been eaten. After Halimu and Yushanjiang guessed for a while, they followed the principle of waste utilization, dismounted, and began to skin the bear.

Now they already knew that this bear skin could be worth the price of dozens or hundreds of sheep. And even half a bear skin could be exchanged for more than ten or twenty sheep—besides, this bear hadn't been dead for long, and there were no maggots on the meat yet; it was still fresh.

After skinning most of the bear skin, Halimu rolled it up and tied it to the horse's back, which made the horse a bit panicked.

"We have to be careful these few days." Yushanjiang said, "To be able to kill a bear, it must be a tiger. I don't know if it's the one I injured back then; if it is, I don't know if it will come back for revenge. This tiger is very ferocious; we must carry our guns whenever we go out, so we don't get hurt by it."

"If Li Long knew there was a tiger here, he would definitely be very happy." Halimu said with a smile, "This thing is very valuable. The one I encountered last time, he took back both the bones and the meat..."

"Sigh, there are quite a few big guys in the mountains. This mountain is so big, it must be hiding them, it's just that we don't usually encounter them..." Yushanjiang said, "Originally I wanted to look around for the next two days to see if I could hunt something else, but I don't dare to run around anymore. If that big guy runs into my sheep flock, the trouble will be big."

Li Long didn't know about Yushanjiang and the others' encounter; at this moment, he was sizing up this middle-aged man who called himself Huang Lei.

Compared to that famous person in his previous life, why does this man named Huang Lei look so much like a lackey or a eunuch in film and television programs?

He always had a smile on his face, his face was white and hairless, he had a middle-parted traitor's hairstyle, and he wasn't tall, only about one meter sixty-five, and even then he bent his waist, as if he felt a head shorter than everyone he met.

That smile wasn't a warm or likable smile, but a fawning smile that felt like he was sucking up to you, as if you would be sorry to him if you didn't respond immediately.

Li Long felt a bit awkward, and after shaking hands with this Huang Lei, he asked:

"Comrade Huang, you are the one introduced by Comrade Qi Zhiguo to buy dried mushrooms, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Xiao Qi introduced me. Originally, I was collecting mushrooms in Southern Xinjiang. To be honest, although Southern Xinjiang is relatively dry, there are quite a few types of mushrooms. However, the local folks don't eat this, so it's a bit difficult to collect, but there are quite a lot of things like red dates."

This person talked quite a lot, and started talking outside the acquisition station, not afraid of the heat.

Li Long led him to the courtyard behind the acquisition station, found a stool for him to sit on, and went to bring him a bowl of tea, which made Huang Lei thank him repeatedly. After drinking the tea in one breath, he went to put the bowl on the windowsill before continuing:

"I heard from Xiao Qi that you have dried mushrooms here, so I hurried over. I would like to ask, Comrade Li... it's Comrade Li, right?"

"Yeah, I'm Li Long."

"Yes, yes, yes, Comrade Li, do you have many dried mushrooms here? What kind of mushrooms are they? It's not that I doubt you, it's mainly because there are many types of mushrooms, some are poisonous, but some people can't tell, and some mushrooms have low toxicity, which ordinary people can't taste... We who do this business must be cautious..."

Li Long couldn't help but interrupt him and said:

"I mainly collect three types of dried mushrooms here: one is last year's black tiger palm mushroom, one is this year's morel, and the other is straw mushroom. All three types of dried mushrooms are very easy to identify and are all non-poisonous mushrooms. However, if you just come like this, you might not be able to take them back."

"Are there many?" Huang Lei smiled when he heard Li Long say this, "Comrade Li, don't worry, although I came alone, dried mushrooms are still easy to transport as an ingredient. As long as we finish the transaction, I will hire a car to take them to the bus station, put them on the bus, and there will be someone to pick them up in Wucheng."

"That's fine, let's go, let's go into the warehouse and take a look. By the way, what price do you collect mushrooms at?"

"Ordinary dried straw mushrooms, depending on the quality, are usually one or two yuan per kilogram. If it's morels, for this year's fresh goods, I can offer thirty to thirty-five, depending on the quality. Last year's old goods are about twenty-five to thirty; if it's earlier than last year, then I won't collect them.

As for black tiger palm mushrooms, if it's last year's, it can also offer about twenty to twenty-five..." Huang Lei was also very clear about this price, "Comrade Li, do you know there is another type of wood ear mushroom, which looks like a wood ear with legs? I've seen it in Southern Xinjiang; the mushroom flavor isn't strong, but it's quite unique..."

Li Long naturally knew that this mushroom, which became famous because of "A Bite of China", didn't have the formal name "Bachu mushroom" in later generations yet. People in different places have different names for it, and most call it wood ear mushroom.

"I know, the flavor is indeed not strong, and the roots like to grow in sandy soil, making it hard to clean?"

"Oh? Comrade Li, you're quite amazing, you even know this? No wonder Xiao Qi has been praising you... no way? So many?"

Huang Lei was halfway through his sentence when Li Long had already opened the warehouse. Seeing the large and small sacks piled on the warehouse shelves and smelling the mixed mushroom scent, Huang Lei was a bit shocked.

"Yeah, there are nearly six hundred kilograms." Li Long said with a smile, "Right now, morels can still be picked for two days, and black tiger palm mushrooms haven't grown out yet as it's not the time. If you came a month later, there might be a ton... the quantity of black tiger palm mushrooms is quite large, and they can be dried into more weight than morels."

Morels are thin as paper when dried, and seven or eight kilograms can be dried into one kilogram of dried goods; black tiger palm mushrooms are large and thick, and can be dried into more weight, with three or four kilograms being enough to dry into one kilogram of dried goods.

Li Long judged that by the time the black tiger palm mushroom season comes in August, he could really collect nearly a ton of dried mushrooms.

He just didn't know if this Huang Lei would come to collect the goods then.

"Then I really prepared a bit too hastily..." The smile on Huang Lei's face had a bit more apology, "Comrade Li, I'm really sorry, Xiao Qi told me and I came right over.

This time I didn't prepare sufficiently and didn't bring enough money. Look, is this okay? I'll transport a portion away first, and come back to transport a portion in two days... it's mainly because I'm short on money, making Comrade Li laugh. I'm also running a small business, just flipping things..."

"That's no problem, there's nothing to laugh at," Li Long said with a smile, "Do big business according to your ability. I also started from nothing; it's best for us to be open and honest... then how much goods do you intend to collect?"

"I brought nearly ten thousand yuan this time, so I'll just collect that much." Huang Lei was really quite honest, smiling and saying: "Comrade Li, how many morels do you have here?"

"About two hundred and eighty kilograms." Li Long said, "About one hundred and fifty kilograms of black tiger palm mushrooms, and the rest are straw mushrooms. Actually, if you want to collect them all, it's about the same."

"That's good, shall we look at the goods first?" Huang Lei asked tentatively, feeling a sense of relief.

"Okay, come, I'll open these bags, and you can inspect them one by one."

"Sorry to trouble you." Huang Lei was just so polite, which made Li Long feel a bit embarrassed.

Li Long took down bags of dried mushrooms, and Huang Lei flipped through them on the side.

He inspected them very seriously, grabbing a handful from different positions in the bag to look at the color, size, and quality.

Just as he was looking, Sun Jia Qiang walked in with a bag of dried mushrooms and said to Li Long:

"Boss, this is fresh morels just collected, should I dry them first?"

"How much... this is over three kilograms, right? Do you want to make a soup today? I'll take some back later to stew a soup tonight, and dry the rest."

Li Long could "taste the freshness" of many good things received at the acquisition station, especially these things that could be eaten directly, and his family ate them quite often.

Huang Lei said with a smile:

"Morels are good things; the fresher they are, the better they taste. Not only do they supplement nutrition, but they can also strengthen yang... hmm, Comrade Li doesn't need this... hehehe..."

Okay, this guy also has a sleazy side.

After Sun Jia Qiang left, Huang Lei continued to inspect the mushrooms seriously, really checking them bag by bag, with each bag taking at least five minutes to check. However, while checking, he explained to Li Long:

"Comrade Li, it's not that I don't trust you, but dried mushrooms are an ingredient taken back for people to eat, and I'm afraid some poisonous mushrooms might be mixed in, which would be a big trouble."

"No problem, you check, I understand." Li Long said, "But can you stop using 'you' (honorific)... I'm even younger than you."

"Haha, you are doing big business; those who are capable come first, those who are capable are brothers, don't go by age, don't go by age."

Huang Lei didn't change, and Li Long couldn't do anything about it, so he had to let him be.

Huang Lei spent more than two hours inspecting the ten or so bags of dried wild mushrooms in this room before finishing. By this time, Sun Jia Qiang had already called them to eat twice from outside.

But neither Li Long nor Huang Lei went out—how could they go out halfway through an inspection? Li Long also guessed that this guy definitely wanted to finish the inspection and then weigh and take them away, otherwise, if people left, who would be responsible if something went wrong in between?

He himself thought the same; eating a bit late was nothing, it was better to finish the matter first.

Huang Lei finished inspecting the dried mushrooms, stood up, hammered his waist, and said with a wry smile:

"I'm getting old, my waist isn't as good as before... but to be honest, Comrade Li, the quality of the dried mushrooms you collected here is very good. Even if I wanted to offer a low price, I couldn't... when you collected them, did you also organize them?"

"Yes, picked out impurities, and then classified them." Li Long nodded and said, "Our acquisition station follows the boutique route, and things collected basically have to be organized, otherwise how could we be embarrassed to sell them to you? Of course, we also want to sell them for a good price."

Sun Jia Qiang wasn't idle living at the acquisition station; when he was free, he would organize these things. In fact, some things were classified when collected; although it was relatively cumbersome, it wasn't heavy work.

"Then let's weigh them." Huang Lei said, "I see that at least eighty percent of your morels here are top-grade, and the twenty percent that are slightly smaller are also very clean. The same goes for the black tiger palm mushrooms; there is no mud or impurities at the mushroom feet, which saved me a lot of trouble."

Li Long went out to get the scale, and Huang Lei walked outside to wait, looking very well-behaved.

Li Long felt that such a collaborator was good, and the cooperation between the two sides was very comfortable.

The scale was brought over, and both of them had notebooks. They weighed the morels first, separating the top-grade ones from the ordinary ones.

"I'll give you thirty-five yuan per kilogram for the top-grade ones." Huang Lei said, "How about thirty for the ordinary ones? This is the highest price I can offer."

"No problem." This price was nearly double Li Long's collection price, so he was naturally willing.

There were over two hundred and fifty kilograms of top-grade ones, and less than thirty kilograms of ordinary ones. With this calculation, just the morels alone amounted to over nine thousand seven hundred yuan.

Huang Lei simply didn't weigh the other dried mushrooms—he had no money left.

After all, he still had to transport them to Wucheng.

Right there in the warehouse, the money and goods were cleared. In Huang Lei's black leather bag, the remaining money was less than five hundred yuan.

"Sigh, it really makes Comrade Li laugh." Huang Lei said with some embarrassment, "But Comrade Li, you must keep these dried mushrooms for me. I'll transport the morels away first, how about that?"

"Okay, no problem." Li Long said, "I'll keep these for you." Li Long said, "Whenever you come, we'll weigh them."

"Good, good, good, that's great!" Huang Lei rubbed his hands and said with some embarrassment, "You have to sell these bags to me too. I'll pay five jiao per bag, how about that?"

"Aren't you scolding me?" Li Long waved his hand, "They're definitely given to you along with the bags. I'll drive to take these mushrooms to the bus station for you. Do you want to eat first?"

"No, no, no." Huang Lei shook his head hurriedly, "Just this... it's too much trouble."

"It's no trouble, no trouble, what trouble is there?" Li Long smiled, "Come, tie the bag mouths, pull them out and put them outside, I'll go get the car."

Nearly three hundred kilograms of morels filled eight bags, large and small.

Morels are different from other mushrooms because they are like paper when dried, have strong toughness, and aren't afraid of being pressed. Li Long's jeep barely managed to fit these morels; of course, two bags were tied on top, otherwise Huang Lei wouldn't have been able to sit.

The jeep took Huang Lei and the morels to the bus station. Huang Lei bought a ticket, and Li Long helped him carry the bags of morels into the station and tied them on top of the bus.

Fortunately, the weather was good today and didn't look like it was going to rain, so Li Long didn't remind Huang Lei to cover these bags.

As for how to handle things after going to Wucheng, Li Long didn't ask; since Huang Lei said so, he should have a way.

Watching the bus Huang Lei took leave the station and get on the Wuyi Highway heading east, Li Long returned to the big courtyard with satisfaction.

This time, the morels sold for nearly ten thousand yuan, and the profit was nearly four thousand yuan, which was a big gain.

In the big courtyard, Gu Xiaoxia had already gone to work. Sister Yang, who was watching Mingming and Haohao, saw Li Long return and stood up to prepare food, but Li Long waved his hand to tell her not to bother, he would do it himself.

Mingming and Haohao wanted to play with Li Long. They wobbled over to ask Li Long, who had just gotten off the car, for a hug, so Li Long picked up the two children.

Sister Yang made dumplings at noon, but Li Long didn't come back, so some of the dumplings weren't cooked. At this time, Sister Yang entered the kitchen, set up the fire, and burned the pot to prepare to cook the dumplings.

Li Long calculated that Sun Jia Qiang had also put in a lot of effort in collecting mushrooms this time, so he had to give him a bonus of fifty yuan this month.

If there's money, everyone should earn it! (End of chapter)