Reborn in the 1980s, starting with fishing and hunting to build a fortune

Chapter 109 Sewing Machine

When Tu Weimin and the others arrived at the kitchen, Li Xiangyang had already laid out all the things he had brought, covering the floor.

A large pile of mutton, offal, and bones; four skinned wild rabbits and five skinned pheasants; and fifteen pounds of wild boar meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

These alone were enough to amaze Tu Weimin and the others, who praised them repeatedly. Then, Li Xiangdong led in two bleating ewes.

This left everyone stunned and speechless.

"In this era, under such a severe snow disaster, how could Tu Weimin still manage to get live sheep?"

This is something that has been repeatedly emphasized from above, and each brigade keeps records to strictly prohibit the buying and selling of goods privately.

However, Li Xiangdong didn't know what had just happened, but he knew Tu Weimin, so he stepped forward and asked, "Brother Weimin, Xiangyang said you needed it urgently, so these two sheep were brought over this morning before I had time to kill them. But I brought all the tools for killing sheep with me before I left. Do you think it would be a good place to kill them?"

Oh, and by the way, it would be best to provide me with a wooden frame.

Seeing that Tu Weimin was in a daze, Li Xiangdong called out again, "Brother Weimin, Brother Weimin."

"Oh, I know, I know!"

Tu Weimin finally recovered from his shock and said with a smile, "Why kill? It's nothing. We have plenty of people in the kitchen who can do it."

As he spoke, he nudged the dazed chef beside him and said, "Old Xu, have two apprentices process these two sheep, weigh them, and report the numbers to me."

Then he called to the restaurant's storekeeper and said, "Old Zhang, put all the things my brother brought into the warehouse. Make sure you count them carefully and don't miss any!"

Report the numbers to me later.

The Li brothers brought him so many ingredients all at once, he had no choice but to be assertive!

The chef and the storekeeper readily agreed, saying that with these ingredients, the restaurant could last at least another five or six days without having to close, and they could naturally earn more money at the end of the year.

Afterwards, Tu Weimin invited the Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong brothers to his office for tea and a snack to properly thank them.

"Hey, Weimin, who are these two young men—?"

Director Jia was now also a little curious about the identities of the Li Xiangyang brothers.

"Yeah, you didn't even introduce yourself to us."

The deputy director chimed in, saying that he also wanted to get to know the Li brothers.

"Oh, it's cold outside. They've been walking for hours, and I was worried they'd get cold, so I rushed to call them inside to warm up. I almost forgot to introduce them."

With a smile on his face, Tu Weimin pointed to the two Li brothers, Xiangyang and Xiangdong, and lied, saying, "His name is Xiangyang and his name is Xiangdong. They are my third aunt's children, my cousins. Only they have special connections in the pastoral area to get sheep."

"Hmm—? Third Aunt? Cousin?" Li Xiangdong looked at Li Xiangyang with a strange expression.

I want to ask Li Xiangyang what happened.

Li Xiangyang quickly understood and chimed in, "Yes, now every brigade is keeping a close eye on the sheep, and they keep count of every single one. We had to pull strings through several layers of connections to get the sheep out."

"If it weren't for my cousin Tu's strict orders to my brother and me, we wouldn't have brought the sheep over at this critical juncture."

Li Xiangyang was neither aware of nor concerned about what Tu Weimin was planning to do.

But he knew that as long as he made it sound like the ingredients were incredibly difficult to obtain, he could drive up the price later.

"Oh, I see. Team Leader Tu is really capable."

The deputy director, clearly annoyed, made a sarcastic remark and then turned and left.

An hour later, the kitchen staff and the storekeeper reported all the numbers.

There were 88 catties of mutton, 24 catties of mutton bones, 28 catties of mutton offal, 15 catties of wild boar meat, 20 catties of rabbit meat, and 25 catties of pheasant meat.

Tu Weimin charged them the highest market price: mutton was 2.5 yuan per jin, mutton bones were 0.5 yuan per jin, mutton offal was 1 yuan per jin, pork was 1.5 yuan per jin, rabbit meat was 1 yuan per jin, and pheasant meat was 2 yuan per jin. They paid a total of 346.5 yuan.

The moment he received the money, Li Xiangdong's hands trembled with excitement.

"Brother Weimin, if there's nothing else, we'll be going now."

Li Xiangyang got up to take his leave.

"So soon? Why don't you stay a little longer? Or maybe we can have a meal together before you go back?"

Tu Weimin extended a warm invitation.

Li Xiangyang helped him keep his job today, and he wanted to express his gratitude.

"No, my brother and I are going to the black market later, and we need to hurry home to collect the sheep this afternoon."

"Go to the black market? Tu Weimin had just checked, and they didn't have anything to sell right now, so why go to the black market?"

He then asked, "Xiangyang, are you going to buy something?"

Li Xiangdong was unaware of this; Li Xiangyang hadn't told him. He looked at Li Xiangyang with suspicion.

Li Xiangyang then explained, "Hey—it's nothing, I just wanted to go to the black market to see if I could buy a sewing ticket."

The women in my family have been making clothes for the New Year recently. We don't have a sewing machine at home, which is very inconvenient. They work very late every night.

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"Buy a sewing machine—?"

Li Xiangdong was somewhat surprised that Li Xiangyang actually wanted to buy a sewing machine!

This sewing machine is a big purchase; it'll easily cost at least a hundred or two.

He had also heard Zhao Lijuan say that only Sun Caimi's family in their entire team had bought one, and it was very precious and never lent out. Whenever someone came to their house, they would cover it with a cashmere blanket beforehand.

"Oh, oh, that's only right, that's only right. You've made quite a bit of money lately, you should buy some furniture for the house."

Tu Weimin genuinely envied Li Xiangyang, even though Li Xiangyang's position as the head of the purchasing team was something many people envied.

There's definitely some profit to be made, but compared to Li Xiangyang's recent income, it's nothing.

As he spoke, he got up and dressed, saying, "Xiangyang, I know where I can get sewing tickets, and they're cheaper than on the black market. I'll take you there."

"real?"

"That's great!"

This was an unexpected and delightful surprise that Li Xiangyang never anticipated.

Although they earn more now, it's still better to save as much as possible.

Afterwards, the two brothers, Li Xiangyang and Li Xiangdong, followed Tu Weimin out of the state-run hotel and, after many twists and turns, arrived at a ticket exchange point known only to the locals. They spent forty yuan to buy a sewing ticket.

Before leaving, in order to better align himself with Li Xiangyang and to express his sincere gratitude, Tu Weimin gritted his teeth and returned to the state-run hotel, where he obtained a bottle of "Ningcheng Laojiao," known as the finest liquor in eastern Inner Mongolia and the "Maotai of the Frontier."

This is for Li Xiangyang.

Li Xiangyang initially wanted to decline, but Tu Weimin was adamant, and since he also planned to buy a bottle of good wine from the supply and marketing cooperative that day to take back to his father, he accepted it.

After finishing all that, the two brothers went to the department store.

The department store has three floors, with the first floor being the most crowded and busiest.

It specializes in selling groceries, tobacco and alcohol, daily necessities, hardware and electrical appliances, and some large items. The sewing machine that Li Xiangyang wanted to buy was also on the first floor.

The second floor sells fabrics, ready-made clothes, and knitwear.

The third floor sells stationery, sports and toys, and small household appliances such as radios, flashlights, and batteries.

As soon as he entered, he saw that the area on the right was crowded with people, and Li Xiangyang naturally walked over.

Sure enough, that area sold sewing machines, bicycles, watches, and other currently popular items.

However, while there were many onlookers, very few people actually bought anything.

Li Xiangyang didn't know anything about sewing machines either, but he had seen one at his brother's house after the family split up in his previous life.

It seems to be called something like "Flying Man" brand!

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