Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chen Hongjun introduced the merchants to Li Long, so Li Long naturally wanted to host. He booked a table at Tuanfenglou early, ordered a few dishes first, and waited for the guests' taste to decide on the rest.

With the reform and opening up, land distribution and household contract responsibility system, the lives of ordinary people have improved to a certain extent, and they can occasionally go to restaurants. Now the state-owned canteens are also gradually reforming, and some new dishes have been introduced. Many people come here to eat.

Li Long was waiting at the door of the box. After a while, seeing that it was almost time to get off work, Chen Hongjun walked into the store with two men.

Li Long invited them into the box, and Chen Hongjun pointed at the two people and introduced them to Li Long:
"Comrade Li Long, let me introduce you to these two big bosses. They often come to our northern Xinjiang to collect things. However, because there are state-owned companies collecting things in our Ma County, they are more in other areas.

This is Mr. Jia Tianlong, he specializes in buying all kinds of medicinal herbs. He buys the Fritillaria and Codonopsis you can dig next year. This is Mr. Zhao Hui, he specializes in buying all kinds of leather, of course, he also buys some deer antler ornaments and the like. "

Jia Tianlong was about 35 years old, about 1.7 meters tall, with two red spots on his face, a well-proportioned figure, wearing a well-fitting suit and holding a black briefcase. Although Li Long hadn't heard the other person speak yet, he felt that he should be from Ganzhou Suzhou.

Zhao Hui is a little shorter and looks younger. He wears gold-rimmed glasses and has a scholarly air. He has a 3:7 split hair style, does not carry a bag, and has a smile on his face. Is he a Confucian businessman?
After introducing the two bosses, Chen Hongjun focused on introducing Li Long:
"Lao Jia, Lao Zhao, although Comrade Xiao Li is young, he has a lot of good stuff. Last year alone, he sold several tons of Fritillaria to our purchasing station! As for all kinds of skins in the mountains, he has taken them out. Not to mention red deer and wolf, he has also taken out several bear and lynx skins. He is quite capable!"

At first, the two men looked at Li Long with a slightly scrutinizing look, but when they heard Chen Hongjun say that Li Long was able to get so many good things, their looks changed.

It is impossible for someone to have so many things without some strength. By this calculation, this young comrade Li Long must have a good family background.

Li Long could clearly feel that the two men's gazes towards him changed from scrutiny to level gaze, at least they acknowledged his status as a collaborator.

Li Long shook hands with the two men and said hello. He could tell that Jia Tianlong indeed spoke with a Gansu-Shaanxi accent, while Zhao Hui was from Sichuan and Chongqing. Sichuan and Chongqing have not yet been separated, so he couldn't tell where exactly they were.

After the four of them sat down, Li Long asked Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui to order a few more dishes. The two were very polite and let Li Long do as he pleased.

Li Long originally ordered chicken and fish, but now he ordered braised pork, spare ribs and other dishes, and then asked for two vegetarian dishes. The remaining dishes were two bottles of wine.

Since you're treating me, it would be unreasonable not to drink.

Chen Hongjun, Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui did not refuse to drink, so Li Long took the glass cups and filled them up for the three of them, and then poured some for himself.

The cup used at this time is 50 grams, that is, one liang of cup, and the first cup must be filled. Nowadays, drinking is inevitable in social gatherings, and if you are more generous, you can also play finger-guessing games.

We are meeting here today, so we won't be too relaxed. We will mainly just chat.

Jia Tianlong was very active, he talked a lot and asked a lot of questions, mainly asking about the types of medicinal herbs in Li Longshan, the quantities of various medicinal herbs that Li Long could receive, and so on.

What surprised Li Long was that the price of medicinal materials purchased by Jia Tianlong was much higher than that of Chen Hongjun’s purchasing station.

For example, for this mother-of-pearl, Jia Tianlong said that if it is first-class quality, his purchase price is about 60 yuan.

This is at least ten yuan higher than the state-owned one.

Considering that Li Long sells one ton of dry goods, the price difference is almost ten thousand.

"That can't be helped. State-owned enterprises are definitely not as good as private ones. We have more circulation links." Chen Hongjun explained patiently, "Unlike Lao Jia, who directly transports the goods to the mainland and sells them to pharmaceutical factories, he saves a lot of links."

Fritillaria is the basic product, and Li Long asked more about it. He also asked about Codonopsis pilosula, and Jia Tianlong did not disappoint him. The price of Codonopsis pilosula is also very high. For example, the Codonopsis pilosula that Li Long dug out was as thick as a child's arm, and that was sold separately.

"I know there are many treasures in Tianshan. If there is a large quantity of the Codonopsis you mentioned, I can sell one of them for dozens of yuan in the mainland. This thing has been around for decades and has strong medicinal properties." Jia Tianlong was also a little surprised, "This year..."

"Although it is the harvesting season for Codonopsis pilosula, to be honest, I have only dug it occasionally for my own use in the past two years," said Li Long. "If Boss Jia needs it, I will go to the mountains in a few days and bring some back."

When they heard Li Long say to collect, the expressions of Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui changed.

They thought that Li Long was the first-hand dealer, but they didn't expect that Li Long was also a middleman.

But it doesn’t matter, as long as there is stock.

Li Long raised his glass to toast the three people, and then clinked glasses with them one by one.

Although he doesn't drink much, his physical condition is there and he has never been drunk even after drinking white wine.

As the wine started to flow, everyone started talking more. Even Zhao Hui, who didn't talk much, asked Li Long a few questions about the leather in the mountains from time to time.

Li Long saw that Zhao Hui's main business was high-end furs. He asked about bear and lynx furs, and even wanted to ask about tiger furs.

The fact that there was a Northern Xinjiang tiger in Nanshan became known to many people in the industry because of the appearance of the tiger skin.

That's why Zhao Hui asked - these people only knew that the tiger skins flowed out from Beiting, but they didn't know which county in Beiting it came from.

Li Long just lied and said that he had never seen one, and he didn't know whether there was one in the Nanshan Mountains of Ma County.

Zhao Hui also said that he also accepts ordinary leathers, including yellow sheepskin, red deer skin, and roe deer skin, but the profit margin from these skins is not large, and they are not as valuable as those precious skins, which do not have as much room for operation.

For example, if he resells a snow leopard skin, he can make more money than twenty yellow sheep skins.

Li Long certainly understood this principle, he agreed with a smile, but also stated the actual situation. He had been in the mountains for two or three years and had only seen two or three snow leopard skins, but he had handled at least thirty yellow sheep skins.

Things are more valuable when they are rare.

While they were talking about the leather, Chen Hongjun interrupted:
"Old Jia, you like jade, right? Let me tell you, Xiao Li has a lot of jade materials. You two can have a good exchange."

"Huh? Xiao Li also likes jade?" Jia Tianlong had just clinked glasses with Chen Hongjun. He was in high spirits and turned to look at Li Long. "What kind of jade do you like? Raw jade or jade carvings? White jade or jasper?"

"I collected them for fun. You all know that there is more jasper in Mahe, and more mutton-fat jade in southern Xinjiang." Li Long picked up the wine glass and filled everyone's cup, and continued:
"I found some good jasper here without fly droppings on it and sold it to the Wucheng Jade Carving Factory, where I met an old carving master and a jade collector from southern Xinjiang. I bought some seed materials and carvings."

"Hey, brother, you have a wide range of collections." Jia Tianlong said with a smile, "When you have time, I must come to see your collection. There is a large amount of Mahe jade, but it is very rare to find good jade without black spots."

"Not much, but still some." Li Long nodded.

"Brother Li Long, do you have any at home?" Jia Tianlong asked, "Can I take a look?"

Li Long was a little embarrassed.

He did collect a few pieces, but had no intention of selling them. Judging from Jia Tianlong's attitude, he was quite persistent about this kind of jade without any black spots.

He then said:

"Boss Jia has traveled a lot and has a lot of experience. He should know that the Hetian jade in the south is better than the Mahe jade in quality. At least most of them don't have any black spots. The current Qinghai material is about the same. I heard that the jade from the Russians is also good..."

"Not bad!" Jia Tianlong shook his head in a vulgar way and said, "Right now I am optimistic about the Hetian Jadeite from the south. It is indeed good, but we cannot get in, so we can only buy a few pieces for fun. To be honest, the Qinghai and Russian materials are not up to standard, and we don't like them. People in the Mahe Jade industry are still very optimistic about it, but it is not easy to find good materials."

Then Li Long couldn't refuse anymore.

Zhao Hui also said:
"Comrade Xiao Li, to be honest, before I met you, Lao Chen was full of praise for you. Now that we have met you this time, I can see that you are indeed capable. Most young people are quite arrogant at this age, and any good things they have would have been revealed long ago.

We all know that after years of working in the mountains, you must have some skills. Let us see them so that we can have a foundation for future cooperation."

Li Long had actually been hiding his incompetence, but now that people had pointed it out to him, he nodded and said:
"That's fine. Actually, I have some things that I haven't dealt with yet. If you have time, please give me some comments..."

"What else is there to do? Now is enough." Several people drank a bottle and a half of white wine, which would be considered half a bottle per person in later times, 200 grams, no more, no less. But at this time, this amount of wine was really not enough.

So although several people smelled of alcohol on their breath, they were actually very sober. In fact, they were using the alcohol to say things that would be difficult to say when they were sober.

Chen Hongjun gave Li Long a look, and Li Long roughly understood and let him give it his all.

These are all businessmen. They won't show their eagle until they see the rabbit. If you don't bring out something of sufficient value, they may not necessarily value you.

Chen Hongjun’s introduction is one thing, but the main thing is to look at the real stuff.

In this case, Li Long paid the bill and then took a few people to his own courtyard. Because the distance was not far and they had to drink, Li Long did not drive.

Jia Tianlong bragged as he walked that he had bought a second-hand Volga car and registered it with a transportation company. The main reason was that it was too far from here, otherwise he would have driven over.

Zhao Hui also said under the influence of alcohol that he was planning to get a Lada, which he got from the Russians, but he had not yet negotiated with the company to which it should be affiliated.

Zhao Hui, who originally seemed very elegant, also swore after drinking. He cursed the leaders of the units he could be affiliated with for being too cruel and asking for too much money, thinking they were fat sheep that were easy to slaughter.

Chen Hongjun smiled and said, "You three all have cars, but I still ride a bicycle. It seems that it is better not to be in the system."

"Xiao Li also has a car?" Jia Tianlong was a little surprised. "What car? A truck or a car?"

"Could it be a small four-wheel tractor?" Zhao Hui next to him interjected.

No wonder they looked down on Li Long. Although the northern border had vast land and rich resources, it was still too far away from the center in terms of commercialization and there was still some gap.

Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui have traveled all over the country and have seen prosperous places. They only see the Northern Frontier as a resource area and do not pay much attention to it.

It is not easy for ordinary people to get a car, and even if they do, it is not easy to make it their own. They collect medicinal materials and skins in southern and northern Xinjiang, and the most common thing they see is riding horses or driving tractors.

There are no people driving cars.

When I heard Chen Hongjun say that Li Long also had a car, I subconsciously thought it was one of those big, black and rough things.

"We're here. You'll know when you see them." Chen Hongjun saw that they had reached the gate of Li Long's house, pointed and said, "My little brother is very capable. You've made a mistake!"

As a person within the system, Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui must have paid attention to him.

Li Long performed well today, and the two bosses did not ignore it, but they still had a sense of superiority.

Li Long didn't think it was a big deal. He didn't particularly care about the attitudes of these two. As long as he didn't pay less when selling things, it would be fine.

But when Chen Hongjun introduced Li Long to others, he didn't want Li Long to be looked down upon. Moreover, Chen Hongjun felt that Li Long had achieved so much at his current age, and his future prospects would be better than those of Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui.

At least Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui certainly didn't have the same achievements as Li Long when they were his age.

That's why he intentionally or unintentionally elevated Li Long's status.

Li Long went to push the door. It was closed in the daytime but not locked. He pushed the door open and saw Sister Yang playing with two children in the yard. When she saw Li Long coming in and was about to speak, she saw someone following behind her and stood up hurriedly.

"Hey, Xiao Li, this is your..."

"This is my eldest sister." Li Long said, "The other two are my children."

He then said to Sister Yang:
"These two are Boss Jia and Boss Zhao. You have met Station Master Chen... We have been drinking. Sister, please take the child back to the house."

"Hey!" Jia Tianlong and Zhao Hui were both stunned for a moment. They didn't expect the child in Li Long's family.

Jia Tianlong was the one who reacted quickly. When Sister Yang picked up the two children and walked into the house, he opened the black bag, took out a wad of money from it, walked over quickly and stuffed it into Sister Yang's arm, shouting:

"This is a gift from Lao Zhao and I to our children... Keep accepting..."

Jia Tianlong was pretty good. His men paid attention to their positions and after stuffing the money in, they retreated to Li Long and the others.

The person came over, his eyes still fixed on Mingming and Haohao. His expression and eyes were full of envy.

"Twins! Xiao Li, you are so lucky!" Zhao Hui sighed, "I didn't prepare anything this time, thank you, Lao Jia. Xiao Li, we will make it up next time..."

In fact, as soon as they entered the yard, they both saw the small four-wheel tractor and the jeep parked in the yard.

There is nothing special about the small four-wheeler. Although only a few people can afford it now, a few thousand dollars is really nothing to them.

But as for the jeep, it's not a matter of money. Although the two of them can get Lada and Volga, it's really hard to say whether they can get this green jeep.

The look in Li Long's eyes was different again.

Sister Yang was a little at a loss. The stack of money looked like it must be worth hundreds of dollars. Li Long waved his hand and signaled her to go in and not to worry about it.

When you have to deal with these two people in the future, just give them face and then you just need to help them.

"Hey, Xiao Li, you are really a hidden talent!" Jia Tianlong waited until Sister Yang brought the child into the house before his expression slowly returned to normal. He gave a lot of gifts and his expression became much calmer. He pointed at the jeep and said, "This thing is not something that ordinary people can get... No wonder Old Chen thinks so highly of you!"

Li Long turned around and closed the door. Just as he was about to open the East Wing and let a few people take a look at something, Jia Tianlong suddenly saw something and looked straight at it.

This thing was placed in the corner, half blocked by the tractor and the jeep. When Jia Tianlong looked around the yard, he saw it through the gap between the tractor and the jeep, and ran straight towards it.

Chen Hongjun and Zhao Hui hurriedly followed.

This is the 200-300 kilogram piece of Mahe Jasper seed material that He Yuqing and Meng Hai brought to Li Long. Later, they brought people over and built a platform to put it on.

The appearance of the jade itself is like a fat baby sleeping on its side with its hands clasped under its ears, which is very vivid.

Jia Tianlong walked over quickly and half-knelt in front of the jade. Touching the jade, Li Long felt that even his breathing became lighter.

Chen Hongjun took two steps back and whispered to Li Long:
"Don't be fooled by the money Lao Jia makes. In fact, he has always had a worry, that is, he has no children. He has been married for nearly ten years, has seen many doctors, and has done a lot of examinations, but he still can't get pregnant... Didn't you see the look in his eyes when he saw your twins just now, hey!"

Li Long understood immediately. No wonder he was so generous at the first try. In fact, it would have been enough to give each of the two children ten yuan as a gift. He spent so much to show his deep friendship. Li Long originally thought that this was just his behavior, but he didn't expect there was this factor involved.

"Xiao Li, I have a favor to ask of you." Jia Tianlong touched the jade stone carefully, then stood up and said:

"Please sell me this piece of jade."

Li Long was stunned for a moment and shook his head subconsciously.

This stone was a gift from the people of Qingshuihe Village. They were so kind as to build a stone platform for it. Meng Hai and his team fiddled with it for a long time and found the best angle.

It takes a lot of thought to put into it, how can you just sell it?

"Fifty thousand yuan!" When Jia Tianlong faced Li Long, his breathing became heavier. "Xiao Li, let me tell you, I have a feeling that whether my family can have children depends on this jade... I am very sincere..."

Fifty thousand yuan! Li Long has made a lot of money in the past two or three years, and the remaining cash is only a little more than this.

Although this jade is very heavy, according to the price given by the jade factory, it is worth at most 20,000 or 30,000 yuan.

Jia Tianlong directly doubled the amount, which shows his sincerity.

But Li Long is not short of money. He is a person who responds to soft words but not hard ones. What he is thinking at this moment is that if he sells this jade, next time Meng Hai and others come over and don’t see the jade, they ask a question. How will he answer?

It’s hard to say. I can’t say that I sold the stone for money?
Seeing Li Long shaking his head, Jia Tianlong thought that he thought the money was not enough, so he made up his mind to raise the price, but Zhao Hui beside him stopped him:

"Old Jia, don't be impulsive. Even if you want to buy it, you can't take it away now, right? We drank today, and we didn't mean what we said. How about we talk about it tomorrow after we sober up?"

After Zhao Hui's persuasion, Jia Tianlong didn't know what to say. He suppressed his emotions and started talking about other things.

Li Long felt relieved, but also a little worried. (End of this chapter)