Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 137 A Good Start

A few days later, Yan Hui had left Tangwanghe District and explored the Qingshan and Hongguang areas, which were very close to the border. After lunch, Yan Hui went to the riverbank for a look, as it was said that there was a foreign country on the other side.

The timber here isn't necessarily cheap when you consider the cost. If you transport timber from this area to the Tangwang River by truck, the transportation cost isn't low either.

In the afternoon, Yan Hui finally found a forest farm that was neither too big nor too small. The location of this forest farm was slightly different from the point marked on the map, and it took Yan Hui a while to find it.

After entering the forest farm, Yan Hui did not look for the farm manager first, but carefully observed the surroundings.

There were a dozen or so rooms, including a dormitory-like area and a small shop. The overall layout was somewhat similar to the one in Baishan, which made Yan Hui feel a sense of familiarity.

If all goes well, I can sleep here tonight and won't have to squeeze onto a makeshift bed at the station anymore.

The logs couldn't be stolen by hand, so no one came to check on Yan Hui while he was observing them.

The timber from this place seems to have been stored for a long time, and the quantity is quite considerable, around 1500 cubic meters. This suggests that the forest farm may be short of customers.

We can talk.

After traveling for so many days, Yan Hui naturally summarized some experiences.

Instead of going to the farm manager, he went to the convenience store to ask a few questions and bought some supplies, mainly instant noodles.

I have to say, instant noodles are really delicious. Just crush them up, sprinkle in the seasoning, and even if the outside temperature is 0 degrees Celsius, chewing them dry doesn't affect the taste. Aside from the price, there's nothing wrong with them.

"You're looking for the manager? Our manager isn't here, I'm the deputy manager," the person in charge of the convenience store said, looking at Yan Hui with some confusion as he inquired about information.

"You're in charge too? That's great, I'd like to come over and talk business." Yan Hui was quite pleased. His experience these past few days had taught him that this deputy manager was of high caliber and wouldn't easily hit or scold him.

In just over ten days, Yan Hui's ability to read people's expressions was forced to improve to a new level, and he knew how to say different things to different people.

Some forest farm owners are just like gangsters. Yan Hui can get straight to the point and state the problem upfront. If they don't want to, they can just tell him to get lost.

The deputy director in front of us could obviously be approached indirectly to extract some information.

Yan Hui quickly learned the price of logs at this forest farm.

It's indeed cheaper than in Tangwanghe. Yan Hui just checked, and although the larch trees here are from the Lesser Khingan Mountains, the quality is quite good. Some stacks are already of such high quality that they can be broken into pieces, making them quite valuable.

After exchanging a few words, Yan Hui learned about the price and then began to explain his own situation.

After listening, the deputy director pondered for a moment and then said, "Do you have any companies or forest farms that can provide guarantees? If not, houses that can be guaranteed will also work."

"No, the only thing I can guarantee is myself. I can guarantee that I won't run away," Yan Hui repeated a similar statement.

“That won’t do. We’re short-staffed at the forest farm, and no one can keep an eye on you. We also don’t really need this kind of thing.” The deputy director was a decent guy. “However, you can wait here. Our director will come back tomorrow and we might talk to you. But, if you give us 20,000, it’s still too little. If you can borrow another 20,000, I think there’s still some hope.”

"Can I stay here for the night?" Yan Hui saw a glimmer of hope. "Sure, no problem, stay here, no need to pay. It's just a regular dormitory, with a large kang (heated brick bed)."

"That's already very good!" Yan Hui said, somewhat excited.

If it really could be solved by spending another 20,000 yuan, then Yan Hui would grit his teeth and borrow some from his family. His uncle should be able to handle 20,000 yuan.

Yan Hui wasn't unwilling to borrow money from his uncle, but his face was too small, and 20,000 was already the limit.

He didn't want his grandfather to ask his uncle for money.

It's impossible to make money without ever losing money in business; everything carries risk. Grandpa's health is already quite poor, and Yan Hui absolutely doesn't want him to worry about it.

"Okay, I'll go tell the dogs at our forest farm not to bite you. Come with me," the deputy director called to Yan Hui as he left.

This deputy director is a high school graduate, looks to be in his early 30s, and gives off a very comfortable vibe. He's a rare kind of cultured person, but he can't make decisions.

It was already evening when Yan Hui went to check on the place where he would be staying for the night. He found three or four other people there, and a motorcycle parked in front of the door. It seemed that they were also there to buy timber.

Yan Hui gave a brief greeting, made sure there was still room for him to sleep, and then went outside to look at the timber.

Many timber merchants, especially local ones, have never been involved in the timber processing process. Most of them deal with raw logs, so few people can tell the "yield per unit area" from the grain and appearance of the timber in the yard. But this is really important.

For example, if a piece of wood has a narrow diameter of 37 centimeters, and you cut off 2 centimeters from each side, you will have 33 centimeters of width left, which is enough to split it into 6 boards.

However, if the diameter of the wood is 35 centimeters, it can still be split into 6 boards.

Is there a big difference between 35 cm and 37 cm? If it's a cylinder, the volume difference reaches 11%, which is quite considerable. Although standard boards are also priced by volume, a 37 cm board can be broken into thicker boards without creating an 11% price difference. However, from the perspective of customer willingness to buy, a price difference of around 3% will still occur.

Using "narrow diameter" as an example isn't very professional, since a pile of logs will have varying diameters; it's just a more intuitive way of putting it. In short, the logging farm sells logs by the "pile," so it's important to observe the pile beforehand.

Yan Hui was wandering around here, and two other timber merchants were also wandering around here. They met and chatted with each other. These two were locals from Northeast China.

The two didn't seem to be buying much; it looked like they were only buying ten or twenty cubic meters. Yan Hui didn't say much, just gave a casual greeting, and left.

Yan Hui was afraid that others would be interested in the group he had chosen and leave after taking a look around. If a deal could be reached tomorrow, he would choose this group.

Finally seeing some hope, Yan Hui returned to his lodgings and helped light the stove. At that moment, two porters from the forest farm also came over.

The forest farm has cranes, but it still needs workers. These two used to work for the timber gang, but they left and came to the forest farm. Yan Hui chatted with them that evening and they actually had a lot in common, since Yan Hui had a good relationship with the timber gang.

As for the other two merchants, they knew nothing about the timber merchants and naturally couldn't say a word to them. The two of them took beer and melon seeds and started chatting. Yan Hui didn't hear what they were talking about.

(I can't add an extra chapter today, I've been quite busy lately. Luckily, I rarely drink alcohol, and I don't have any plans after dinner tonight. I should be able to add an extra chapter tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)