Fishing and Hunting 82, Starting with Three Sisters Who Overprotect Their Brothers

Chapter 118 New Business

Outside the courtyard, Li Dong and Tao Jun were singing in unison.

The two of them were yawning, clearly not used to getting up early.

Zhang Wenshan smirked, finding it somewhat amusing.

These two really went to great lengths to make fun of themselves.

That smile, in the eyes of the two men, was blatant provocation.

Tao Jun snorted: "You can still laugh? What are you going to do if you can't keep up with the demand for state-run restaurants?"

He knew a thing or two about it.

Getting goods into state-run restaurants isn't as simple as just talking; you have to cultivate relationships with everyone involved, and it'll cost you at least tens of dollars.

We must ensure both quality and quantity; there can be no mistakes whatsoever.

If anyone fails to serve you properly, they'll replace you without hesitation.

The fishing and hunting teams in their village put in so much effort, but in the end, they failed.

Zhang Wenshan must have spent a lot of money to do it, and now that he's messed it up, he'll definitely lose a fortune.

"Fellow villagers, the goods you delivered yesterday were all of good quality. Keep up the good work today!" Li Dong shouted at the top of his lungs as he glanced at the fishing and hunting team members.

"Team leader, it's me—"

The group immediately panicked, glaring fiercely at Li Dong before nervously looking at Zhang Wenshan.

Their ideas were very simple.

Some of the catch was given to the fishing and hunting team to get by, while the rest was sold at a high price.

Wanting to make money but not wanting to offend anyone, Li Dong never expected to expose the truth in public.

"It's alright, it's clearly written in the documents, you have the right to choose who to sell to." Zhang Wenshan said calmly.

The current outcome is actually better than he expected.

People of this era are ultimately simple and honest, and they still care about saving face, so they left him some goods after all.

"Keep pretending!"

Seeing Zhang Wenshan's open and honest smile, which didn't seem fake, Li Dong felt a surge of anger.

"Do you know how many snails we caught yesterday? Over 520 jin (210 kg). How many did we sell?"

"Over two hundred jin," Tao Jun continued, "and you get thirty yuan straight away."

"The price is higher at the forest farm, we plan to go check it out today." Li Dong said with his hands behind his back, his chin slightly raised, looking smug. "I forgot to tell you, we've rented two carriages today."

Tao Jun scoffed from the side, "With their small numbers, they don't need a horse-drawn carriage."

"That's right, you see, I forgot."

"Hahaha!"

The two men's wild laughter pierced the sky.

"You, you all, don't be so smug—" Lin Cuihua was furious and wanted to retort, but when the words reached her lips, she couldn't find a single powerful sentence.

The prices at state-run restaurants are fixed.

Are we going to lose money to buy the goods?

Furthermore, if the supply of goods cannot be maintained, it may offend the state-run restaurants, and then how will we send things to them in the future?

She knew that the team leader was also dabbling in other small businesses in private, and if that channel was cut off, the losses would be huge.

"What do you mean, 'you'?" Li Dong spat. "You fatherless brat, what are you glaring at me for? I'll deal with you after I'm done with this."

Ge Ergui couldn't help but say, "Watch your mouth."

"What's it to you? Go to hell." Li Dong sneered. "I'm telling you right now, I won't accept their things, and after today, I won't take yours either."

"Li Dong, don't go too far."

Xu Xiulian came out of the house, followed by an angry Zhang Fengxia.

"In business, I can take whoever's goods I want," Li Dong said defiantly. "Think about it carefully, you must have spent a lot of money delivering goods to state-run restaurants, right?"

"Buying my snails will at least keep my market open; otherwise, I'll have nothing left."

Upon hearing this...

Zhang Fengxia and her companions, who were initially furious, calmed down and even couldn't help but laugh.

Spend money?

They witnessed firsthand how the state-run restaurant begged Zhang Wenshan to do business with them.

So these two know absolutely nothing!

"Alright, think it over carefully. After noon, even if you want to buy it, I won't sell it to you." Li Dong shook his head, giving his final ultimatum.

He was very satisfied with his move.

They were certain that within half a day, they could force the fishing and hunting team to turn against them and make Zhang Wenshan beg for mercy.

But just then, shouts came from above.

"Brother Tao, something bad has happened!"

"Many of our snails have died."

Instantly, the scene became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Li Dong's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly grabbed the messenger by the collar: "How many died?"

"About one-third, we haven't seen what happens next."

Li Dong's mind went blank, and he almost lost his balance.

one third.

That's 100 jin!

At eight cents per pound, that's equivalent to losing eight dollars.

"How could so many people die?" Tao Jun's face turned deathly pale, and his voice trembled. "The goods were all collected in the evening, so it only took seven or eight hours at most."

"That's what I was going to ask you!" Li Dong turned his head and said irritably, "Aren't you guys a fishing and hunting team?"

"How would I know?" Tao Jun retorted, sticking his neck out. "Who has ever stockpiled hundreds of kilograms of snails?"

As soon as they finished speaking, they both instinctively looked at Zhang Wenshan.

After returning to Chishong Village, they did inquire about the fishing and hunting group.

The information I received was that people simply threw the small snails back into the water, while they sold almost every large snail they caught.

Nothing will happen overnight.

"The price remains the same, fifty."

Zhang Wenshan stood in the center of the courtyard and spoke calmly.

"Damn it!" Tao Jun exploded upon hearing this. "I'd rather die than buy from you."

After saying that, he flicked his arm, turned around, and left.

Li Dong glared fiercely at Zhang Wenshan, gritted his teeth, and followed.

"Alright, we should go now." Zhang Wenshan clapped his hands with a smile.

The members of the fishing and hunting team breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness they didn't go directly to Li Dong; that kid is too unreliable. The team leader is much better; the snails were still lively and energetic all night.

Before long, the group was ready to set off.

Today, the snails, shrimp, and crabs weighed less than fifty pounds in total, so I simply carried them on a shoulder pole.

Zhang Wenshan only brought his eldest sister and Lin Cuihua with him, and picked up Lang Qiuping, who was returning from collecting traps.

Good haul today, two more pheasants.

"Brother Shanzi, how about we go into the mountains and set traps?" Lang Qiuping naturally took the carrying pole. "It seems like the Weasel spirits have figured out our tricks. They snatched two more of our traps today."

"If I hadn't arrived early, these two wouldn't have been left."

"Let's talk about it in a couple of days," Zhang Wenshan said, not immediately agreeing.

The town has a limited population and limited purchasing power. There are many people engaged in fishing and hunting, and over the years, sales channels have been almost completely blocked.

There's already enough to keep me busy right now.

There's no need to go to the deep mountains.

After handing over the goods at the state-run restaurant, Zhang Wenshan subtly inquired about Zhao Linlin's background, but Wu Xia remained tight-lipped.

This made him even more certain of his suspicions, but he was in no hurry to reveal the matter of the wild ginseng.

Regarding the popularity of snails, Wu Xia seemed to have anticipated it, and did not mention any shortage of supply. Instead, she brought up another matter.

"Brother, you're famous now! The leaders are full of praise for that red-tailed golden carp."

"Lucky, very lucky."

"Keep pretending." Wu Xia smiled and pointed. "Your words have reached the ears of the leaders, and they've also asked me about the fishing and hunting team helping those in need."

Zhang Wenshan immediately feigned a panicked expression: "Then, what did Sister Xia say?"

"Look how scared you are! Would I say bad things about you?"

"Oh, thank you so much!"

"Don't just talk the talk, go ahead and prepare more good stuff. You don't even know to send the carp to me first."

"Next time for sure, next time for sure."

Zhang Wenshan then spoke up.

"I actually have something here, I wonder if you'd be interested, Sister Xia?"