Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

After Wang An finished speaking, Zhang Zhenbang smiled and said again:

"Mr. Xiao An, do you have any plans to sell the entire skeleton of this leopard, as well as its penis and gall bladder?"

Upon hearing this, Wang An's smile froze on his face.

The most valuable parts of a whole Amur leopard are its skin, bones, penis, and gallbladder, while the tendons are also worth some money, but not much.

Leopard sinew is a special material. After being tanned, it is quite strong and very elastic, making it an excellent material for making bowstrings and sheaths.

Leopard meat alone isn't very useful; it can only be dried, ground into powder, and then used to feed dogs.

But Zhang Zhenbang is something else; he wants to buy the entire leopard in one go!

To be honest, Wang An didn't want to sell the leopard bone and leopard whip, because these two items were second only to tiger bone and tiger whip, and the leopard bone was far more valuable than the bear's bald head, which was known as fake tiger bone.

The most crucial point is that leopards aren't something you can just hunt whenever you want, and their numbers are decreasing year by year, just like Siberian tigers. So who knows when we'll be able to hunt a leopard again?

Seeing that Wang An did not speak, Zhang Zhenbang continued with a smile:

“My father traveled all over the country when he was young, and inevitably suffered from some kind of ailment. A highly respected old Chinese medicine doctor once said that only the strength of a tiger or leopard could cure it. So whenever I come across one, I want to buy it as a gift for my father.”

To be honest, Zhang Zhenbang is incredibly cunning. When a normal transaction fails to achieve his goal, he brings up filial piety again.

Even so, he only needed to buy leopard bones, so why did he also need to buy leopard penis and leopard gall?
Could these two things really cure hidden ailments? If Wang An were to say, they'd be more like a cure for kidney deficiency caused by having too many women.

Thinking of this, Wang An clicked his tongue and secretly decided that if the old man really wanted to buy it, he would sell it to him, but he would rip him off badly.

Anyway, he still has tiger bones that are better than leopard bones, two tiger whips that are even more powerful than leopard whips (one large and one small), and tiger gallbladders that are even more powerful than leopard gallbladders.

So, Wang An pretended to be conflicted and said:
"To be honest, I didn't really intend to sell these leopard bones and leopard penises. As you can see, Mr. Zhang, the temperature here is very low. People from your area who live by the sea are prone to rheumatism, while people here are prone to rheumatism and arthritis due to the low temperature. But this wine made from leopard bones is specifically for rheumatism and arthritis."

Although Wang An did not say it explicitly, the meaning he conveyed was quite clear.

So you bought this thing to treat your dad's illness, but I also want to keep it just in case.

To everyone's surprise, after Wang An finished speaking, Zhang Zhenbang continued with a gentle smile and said:

"I believe that with Mr. Xiao An's superb hunting skills, he will definitely be able to hunt other leopards."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhenbang gave Wang An a thumbs up.

As soon as Zhang Zhenbang said this, Wang An was speechless.

No wonder this old fellow kept saying "I've heard so much about you" as soon as we met, and even claimed to be "young and promising." Turns out he was just waiting for me here.

After a moment of silence, Wang An spoke:
"To be honest, these mountains are covered in tall grass and dense forests, making it extremely difficult to kill a leopard. We hunters are reluctant to provoke such ferocious beasts that can easily devour people." After saying this, Wang An changed the subject and continued:
"Since Mr. Zhang likes it, I have no choice but to do him a favor. Mr. Zhang, name your price. As long as you are sincere, I will offer you the complete set of leopard bones, leopard whip, and leopard gall. By the way, as you know, we need foreign exchange to import a batch of equipment, so just say Hong Kong dollars."

The reason Wang An was asked to make the offer, specifically in Hong Kong dollars, was because he felt he had been tricked by the old man.

Zhang Zhenbang, a shrewd businessman to the core, naturally saw through Wang An's trick, but unfortunately, Wang An's move was an open scheme.

Wang An had made it clear that he did not want to sell the leopard bone, leopard whip, and leopard gall, but Zhang Zhenbang insisted on buying them, and he had no choice but to sell them out of consideration for his reputation.

Therefore, Zhang Zhenbang's only solution is to offer Wang An a price that will satisfy him.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Zhenbang said quite decisively:

"How about this, Mr. Xiao An, I'll offer another HK$23, plus the HK$22 for the leopard skin, for a total of HK$45, to buy your leopard skin, leopard bones, leopard penis, and leopard gall. What do you think?"

It has to be admitted that the Zhang family in Hong Kong is really damn rich, and the way rich people do things is so simple and direct.

According to current black market prices, all the parts of a 200-pound Amur leopard—that is, the undamaged leopard skin, the complete set of leopard bones, the intact leopard penis, and the leopard gallbladder that has not been emptied—can normally sell for 20,000 yuan, at most 25,000 yuan, which is already an astronomical price.

Zhang Zhenbang was willing to spend HK$45, which, at the current normal exchange rate, would be more than RMB 8 to purchase it.

With over 8 yuan, you could buy a whole Siberian tiger and still have some left over!
Therefore, Wang An didn't hesitate and said two words:
"make a deal."

There was nothing Wang An could do; he was truly speechless at Zhang Zhenbang's extravagant spending. This old guy was simply throwing money around like water; he was just too damn extravagant.

That's probably how rich people are; there's no logic to it.

Upon hearing Wang An's agreement, Zhang Zhenbang smiled slightly and then said:

"Then please trouble Mr. Xiao An to bring out the leopard bone, leopard whip, and leopard gall as well."

Wang An nodded, pointed to the six boxes of Ming Dynasty Xiaonan Kiln porcelain on the ground, and said:

"I'll go get it for you right away. Please take a look at these porcelain pieces first."

Zhang Zhenbang waved his hand, and his two attendants immediately walked over to the six boxes.

Wang An, however, turned and left the storeroom, heading into the house.

When Wang An appeared in the warehouse carrying a whole leopard spine, along with a sack containing leopard leg bones, ribs, tail bones, and other scattered bones, as well as leopard whips and gallbladders, Zhang Zhenbang's smile immediately blossomed like a chrysanthemum.

Wang An smiled slightly, pointed to the leopard skull on the warehouse table, which was shattered by a bullet and only half of it remained, and said:
“Mr. Zhang, the leopard’s skull is over there. With that skull, all the bones in the leopard’s body are here.”

Wang An hadn't knocked out the leopard's four fangs yet, so his statement that it represented all the bones in the leopard's body was entirely accurate. (End of Chapter)