novelden Chapter 122 2
Chapter 122 2
Cheng Shichang was silent for a moment, then finally made up his mind: "Okay, we'll do it your way."
He handed the gun to Li Xiangyang: "You take this gun for now..."
"Who do you think you are to me?" Li Xiangyang shook his head, not reaching out his hand. "Let your men take you back."
Cheng Shichang glanced at the gun, then at Li Xiangyang, hesitated for a moment, and then called out towards the woods, "Old Wu!"
A rustling sound came from the bushes, and a lean man emerged.
"Take this gun and go back first." Cheng Shichang handed the gun to the man.
Old Wu took the gun but didn't move, his eyes fixed on Cheng Shichang: "Cheng, you educated youth, what about our agreement..."
Cheng Shichang understood what he meant, took out a few bills from his pocket and stuffed them into the other man's hand: "Take this. Please take the rest back and distribute them for me."
Old Wu then smiled, picked up his gun, turned and left: "Alright, don't worry."
After a while, the rustling sounds in the woods faded into the distance, presumably because everyone had left.
Wang Ergou sneered, "You city young master, you know how to play the game."
Cheng Shichang blushed and was about to say something when Li Xiangyang interrupted, "Alright, enough talk, let's get into the city."
The three of them then squeezed onto the donkey cart and headed towards the county town.
Upon arriving in the county town, Cheng Shichang led them into a small alley.
At the end of the alley is a two-story building with a sign that reads "Fuji Grocery Store" on the ground floor.
“My uncle lives here. Wait for me, let me see if he’s home,” Cheng Shichang said, taking the lead up the steps.
"Okay, go ahead, we'll wait for you here."
Cheng Shichang went upstairs, and after a short while, he poked his head out and waved to the people below: "My uncle is home, come on up!"
"What are you saying? Is this how you treat guests? Come on, come with me downstairs to greet them."
Cheng Shichang's uncle gave him a reprimand and then personally led him out to greet him.
The other person was a refined-looking man wearing glasses, exuding an air of cultured sophistication. He was very enthusiastic. "Let me introduce myself," he said, "my surname is Lin, Lin Shouye. I work at a foreign trade company."
"If I'm not mistaken, you're Xiao Li, right?"
"Are you Xiao Wang?"
"Come in, come in, it's cold outside, come inside and let's talk."
"Xiao Cheng has been spoiled since he was little and doesn't know any better. Please don't take it to heart."
Once upstairs, Lin Shouye led the people into the reception room.
"Come, have some tea."
He poured everyone a cup of tea before sitting down, his smile growing even warmer.
"I heard from Xiao Cheng that you guys hunted a snow leopard? That's amazing, a young hero indeed! Can I see for myself?"
“Of course,” Li Xiangyang said, taking a snow leopard skin out of his bag.
When the leather is unfolded, it is more than a person's height.
"Good heavens!" Lin Shouye exclaimed in amazement. "The leather, the quality, the craftsmanship—it's superb..."
Seeing that he was satisfied, Cheng Shichang quickly asked, "Uncle, how much do you think it's worth?"
"This leather," Lin Shouye squinted, continuing to examine it, "is worth around six hundred yuan according to market prices."
Li Xiangyang almost burst out laughing when he heard this.
Six hundred for such a complete snow leopard pelt?
Isn't this blatantly taking advantage of the fact that people in the mountains don't know the local customs?
"Uncle Lin, isn't your asking price a bit too much?" Li Xiangyang said neither humbly nor arrogantly. "If you really know about this, give me a fair price. If you don't, let's not waste each other's time."
Despite the young man's rude remarks, Lin Shouye wasn't annoyed. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Little Li, don't be impatient. I really don't know. Just tell me how much it's worth, and I'll listen to you."
Seeing this, Li Xiangyang lost his temper. The other party was indeed a cunning old fox, pretending to be ignorant even though he knew the truth.
"Since you don't understand, let me explain it to you properly. Scarcity drives up value. If it's still available now, but Li might not be able to get his hands on it in the future, then it's naturally valuable. Domestically, I'd be happy to buy it for two thousand. But if I sell it to a foreigner for two thousand, well…"
"Stop talking!" Lin Shouye gritted his teeth, seeing that Li Xiangyang really understood. "Two thousand, that's my bottom line!"
Li Xiangyang glanced at Cheng Shichang, then at Lin Shouye: "Alright, since you're Cheng Zhiqing's uncle, two thousand it is."
Lin Shouye breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, opened the safe, and counted out two thousand yuan.
Cheng Shichang watched in stunned silence.
He never expected that the leather would be worth so much money.
What I didn't expect was that Li Xiangyang, this mountain man, was so knowledgeable about the market.
"The goods are good," Lin Shouye said, a smile finally appearing on his face as he handed over the money, "but your price is a bit too high."
Li Xiangyang took the money and counted it carefully: "Uncle Lin, what are you saying? You're clearly trying to take advantage of us mountain folk. If I didn't know the market price, it probably wouldn't even be eight hundred by now. You'll just resell it for knives and clams, do I even need to tell you how much profit you'll make?"
Lin Shouye, his thoughts exposed, blushed slightly, then burst into laughter: "Good lad, you've got insight! I've decided to be your friend."
After saying that, he pulled a notebook out of the drawer. "Leave your address. If you ever come across any more good stuff like this, just come find me. Consider this a bargain; I'll definitely pay a higher price next time."
"That's great." Li Xiangyang readily wrote down the address.
Cheng Shichang, standing to the side, felt a pang of sadness as he watched the two chatting and laughing.
It would be so nice if he could give this hide to his uncle, what a pity...
"Little Li, don't mind me trying to lower the price earlier. Business is business, it's all about mutual benefit... Come on, let's go eat. I'd feel bad if I didn't treat you to a meal today."
Li Xiangyang glanced at the sky outside the window, about to decline, when Lin Shouye had already put on his overcoat, buttoning it as he said, "Don't refuse. As the saying goes, even an emperor doesn't starve his soldiers. How could I let you go hungry?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ergou's eyes lit up immediately: "Uncle Lin is right, we'll go if you say so."
Li Xiangyang glanced at Wang Ergou helplessly.
This rough man, who had lacked food and clothing since childhood, didn't care about anything else when he heard that someone was treating him to a meal.
Doesn't he understand the saying "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding"?
But forget it.
People who are good at foreign trade are just looking to keep some of their catch; they can always earn less in the future.
With that in mind, Li Xiangyang decided not to refuse.
"Come on, come on, my car is downstairs." Lin Shouye waved his hand and went downstairs first.
The winter sun slanted through the withered branches of the old locust tree and onto the street.
At the entrance of the state-run restaurant, two large red lanterns swayed in the cold wind.
Two greeters in blue uniforms were standing at the door. When they saw Lin Shouye's car arrive, they immediately ran over to open the door.
"Welcome, Mr. Lin!"
The greeter called out, and Director Zhang immediately came out of the restaurant, rubbing his hands together as he approached: "Mr. Lin, what a rare guest! It's truly kind of you to come in this freezing weather..."
He was halfway through his sentence when his eyes lit up: "Oh, Xiangyang, you know Mr. Lin?"
"Yes, Director Zhang!"
Li Xiangyang nodded.
Director Zhang is an old acquaintance. Whenever he brings prey, Director Zhang never haggles over the price, so naturally, he has to be treated with respect.
"Look at this, what a coincidence! We're all on the same side. Today we're heading towards the sunny side, so the drinks are on me."
As Director Zhang ushered everyone inside, he said with a smile, "Come, come, let me arrange a private room for you all. We just received a shipment of fresh grass carp today, along with our braised lion's head meatballs—all our specialty dishes..."
Watching Director Zhang bustling around, Cheng Shichang stood by, dumbfounded.
He never expected that Li Xiangyang would have such a big influence with Director Zhang.
After Director Zhang finished making the arrangements, Lin Shouye said seriously, "Little Li, if you ever have anything good in the future, just let me know. The price is negotiable."