Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

Upon arriving in the county town again, Li Yunshan and Uncle Zhou once again chose to set up camp at the county's farmers' market.

Li Baotian put the tractor in low gear and drove it around the farmers' market. Finally, he found a spot on the edge of the market to stop the tractor.

"This farmers' market is really hard to find."

"Didn't you notice how much more crowded the farmers' market is this time?"

"I saw it, what's wrong?"

"Duh, there are only two weeks left until the New Year. Everyone wants to celebrate the New Year and needs to buy New Year's goods in advance. There are more people in the farmers' market than when we came before."

After the tractor was parked, Li Yunshan and the others removed the cloth covering the truck bed, then unloaded the two baskets of venison, and set up the two door panels to serve as a chopping board for selling the meat.

They chatted as they worked.

"Young man, what kind of stuff are you selling here?"

The chopping board had just been set up, and the venison in the wicker basket hadn't even been moved up yet, when an old man came up to him and asked a question.

"Grandpa, this is deer meat. We hunted it in the mountains. It's genuine wild game, and it sells for two yuan a pound."

Seeing this, Li Yunshan quickly explained, while directing Peng Youlian to insert a pole over two meters long into a deer head to prop it up.

The old man glanced at the deer head supported by a long pole, then looked at the venison taken out of the wicker basket.

Although the venison was frozen stiff, the old man took it in his hand, examined it carefully for a few moments, and then said, "Young man, could you help me weigh this piece of venison?"

"Okay, sure."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunshan was overjoyed. He hadn't expected the stall to open for business so soon, even before it was set up. He quickly took the venison from the old man and handed it to Uncle Zhou to weigh.

"Brother, it's three jin and two liang, I'll charge you six yuan and forty cents."

Uncle Zhou weighed it on Friday and reported the weight.

"Okay, six dollars and forty cents it is. If I can't afford to eat well normally, and I still can't afford to eat well during the New Year, then all my hard work this year has been for nothing."

The old man didn't hesitate at all. As soon as he heard that it was three jin and two liang, and six yuan and forty cents, he immediately took out his money from his pocket, counted out a five-yuan note, a one-yuan note, and four one-cent notes, and handed them to Li Yunshan, saving him the trouble of getting change.

After the old man left with the meat, Li Yunshan whispered to Uncle Zhou and Uncle Baotian, "Uncle Zhou, Uncle Baotian, have you noticed that there are many more people at the farmers' market than last time we came? That uncle who bought the meat was very generous; you remember what he said, right?"

"There are many more people here than last time."

Li Baotian nodded.

"I remember, so what?"

Uncle Friday asked.

"Now that the end of the year is approaching, there are many more people buying supplies for the New Year than usual. It is said that things are valued for their scarcity. I think we should appropriately raise the price of venison to 2.2 yuan per jin, or even 2.3 yuan per jin."

Li Yunshan said.

Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian were both stunned for a moment after hearing Li Yunshan's words before glancing at him.

Li Baotian lowered his voice slightly and said, "Yunshan, you're right, but arbitrarily raising prices, to put it bluntly, is speculation and profiteering, a serious crime..."

"Uncle Baotian, now that we've reformed and opened up, we're implementing a market economy. You can go around and ask people in the neighborhood if the prices of their goods have gone up, or if any red armbands are causing trouble for them."

Before the reform and opening up, due to the scarcity of domestic goods and the inability of supply to meet demand, in order to stabilize prices, the supply of goods was subject to quotas and quantity restrictions, and prices were also limited to a certain range.

If someone buys or sells goods at a price higher than the limit, and this is reported and verified, it is considered speculation and profiteering. At best, they will be paraded through the streets; at worst, they will be sentenced to prison or even forced to eat peanuts.

Li Yunshan's suggestion did indeed appeal to them. If they increased the price of venison by two cents per kilogram, they could sell their 1,300 to 1,400 kilograms of venison for more than two hundred yuan more.

Li Yunshan's suggestion also piqued their interest.

"How about... we go ask around the neighborhood?"

Li Baotian looked at Uncle Zhou.

"Then let's go ask."

Uncle Zhou replied on Friday.

While Li Yunshan was covering the meat on the cutting board with a cloth, Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian had already gone to ask several pork stalls nearby.

The pigs slaughtered at the nearby pork stalls are all raised by villagers from villages around the county town. They slaughter them before the Lunar New Year and sell them at the county town's farmers' market for a good price.

When they learned that pork was selling for 1.1 yuan without the need for meat coupons, Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian were both stunned.

This price is higher than the price of pork at the supply and marketing cooperative, and you need meat coupons to buy pork at the supply and marketing cooperative.

"You...aren't you afraid of speculation and profiteering?"

Uncle Zhou asked with concern.

"What's there to be afraid of? With all that reform now, the red armbands at our farmers' market stopped checking these things six months ago."

"That's what a pork vendor said casually."

"Normally, the pork from our own pigs sells for one yuan per jin, but now that it's almost Chinese New Year, we're selling it for one yuan and one jin. We've been doing this for two or three days now, and we haven't seen any red armbands coming to check."

"Hey gentlemen, you came in a tractor. What's on it? It's completely full!"

The owner of another pork stall nearby curiously looked at the tractor.

"Oh, we are hunters from Xiangyang Commune. The tractor is loaded with game that we hunted in the deep mountains and forests. We brought it to the county town to sell it, hoping to get a good price and have a prosperous New Year."

Li Baotian explained.

"Is the tractor loaded with game caught in the mountains? You guys had quite a haul on your trip up the mountain."

"Hehe, the harvest is good, but the deep mountains and forests are fraught with danger. If you're unlucky, you might encounter a tiger or a bear, and you could even lose your life in the mountains."

"Excuse me, sir, could you tell me the price of venison at your local farmers' market?"

"Normally, it sells for two yuan a pound. Now that it's almost Chinese New Year, it's okay to sell for two yuan two and a half, or even two yuan three. This stuff is a rare wild game, and it's very nutritious. Wealthy people in the city are willing to spend the money."

"oh……"

Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian went to several nearby pork stalls to inquire, and then they had a better understanding of the situation.

"Baotian, I see our venison is only 2.2 yuan."

After making inquiries, Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian discussed things on their way back.

"Other people's pork is selling for 1.1 yuan, our venison is selling for 2.2 yuan, I think that's a good deal."

"Then I'll sell it for 2.2 yuan."

Soon, the cloth covering the tractor bed and the cutting board was pulled back up, and the price of venison rose to 2.2 yuan per kilogram.

"Uncle Zhou, is your venison really 2.2 yuan per jin?"

Cai Er and the others stared wide-eyed.

"Yes, it really is 2.2 yuan per jin. Baotian and I have already inquired with the owners of several pork stalls nearby. They raise their own pigs and sell them for 1.1 yuan per jin now, without meat coupons. Moreover, the red armbands that used to deal with speculation and profiteering will not come to interfere. It is reasonable for us to raise the price of venison to 2.2 yuan. Just like Yunshan said, scarcity makes things valuable."

Ever since he learned from the pork stall owner that the red armbands wouldn't interfere, Uncle Zhou's courage grew.

Upon their return, they announced that venison would cost 2.2 yuan per jin, which shocked Cai Er and the others.

However, this was exactly what Li Yunshan had expected.

Previously, Uncle Zhou and Li Baotian were worried that raising the price would lead to them being labeled as speculators.

Now that they've found out, the Red Armband volunteers don't care about this anymore, and they've become bolder.

"Two yuan and two jiao per jin? So we've cut out a total of 1,300 to 1,400 jin of venison. After keeping 130 to 140 jin at home, we'll have about 1,200 jin left. At a little over two mao per jin, that 1,200 jin is... how much was it again?"

"It's one hundred... no, it's two hundred and forty dollars, two hundred and forty dollars more. Look at my brain, I almost can't process it."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and shout out that we're selling venison! And remember to include our free deer bones with the meat sale too!"

Li Baotian urged.

Soon, Cai Er and his men's shouts rang out.

"Venus meat for sale! Venison meat for sale! Wild red deer meat from deep in the mountains and forests, perfect for stewing soup, nourishing yin and yang..."

"Fresh venison, 2.2 yuan a pound. Folks and elders passing by, come and take a look..."

"Genuine products at fair prices, honest and fair to all, young and old."

As Cai Er and his group shouted their wares, they immediately attracted some people who were wandering around the farmers' market. They all gathered around Li Yunshan and his group's stall selling venison.

"Young man, is your venison really that magical? Can it truly nourish yin and replenish yang?"

"Of course, ma'am, you really know your stuff. Our venison is genuine red deer meat from the mountains. It was hunted by several hunters in our village from deep in the forest. Now that the New Year is coming, we've brought it to the county's farmers' market to sell, so we can buy some good fabric for our wives and children to make some new clothes for the New Year."

Li Yunshan chatted with the older woman while smiling.

"Then... I'll take two pounds!"

"Okay, big sister."

Li Yunshan smiled and nodded, then gestured for Cai Er to cut the meat for Li Baotian to weigh.

"Two catties and one ounce and four mace, let's say two catties and one ounce, that's four yuan and sixty-two fen. I'll give you four yuan and sixty fen, and I'll also give you a deer leg bone. Break this thing and use it to make soup, the soup will be so fragrant."

Li Yunshan introduced it in great detail.

When the woman buying the meat saw that she was getting such a big deer leg bone as a free gift with her venison purchase, she couldn't stop smiling, as if she had gotten a great deal. She readily took out her money and paid.

Li Yunshan took the money and handed the meat to the street vendor.

People who had gathered around saw that the meat sellers were also giving away meat bones, so they all started to pay for Li Yunshan's venison.