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

When Lao Xie and Hong Yuan arrived at the state-run restaurant warehouse, they instantly attracted everyone's attention.

no way.

The two handprints on his face were really glaring.

"Cough cough cough." Wu Xia suppressed the urge to tease her and coughed twice, saying, "Old Xie, hurry up, we're waiting for you."

There were quite a few people eyeing that group of distinguished guests from the south.

The young man and his group are waiting at the town entrance. Who knows who they'll alert? Maybe they already have, and someone will come to intercept them soon.

"Brother Zhang, I didn't have a chance to say this because you weren't here earlier."

Hongyuan carefully lined up the twenty-eight snakes in a row.

"Live snakes and dead snakes have different prices; snakes with smashed heads will be sold at an even lower price."

Upon hearing this, Lin Cuihua and Ge Ergui felt a chill run down their spines; these words sounded all too familiar.

In the past, purchasing agents and dealers would always try to drive down the price as soon as they said that.

"It's alright, just pay the price we set." Zhang Wenshan had anticipated this and said calmly, "We've never caught snakes before, so we can only use the safest method."

The price of a snake varies greatly depending on whether it is intact or not, and the difficulty of catching it also varies drastically.

He knew it all but didn't say it.

People are so poor these days. If the other members of the fish group find out, they might take a risk one day and try their luck again.

It would be better to eliminate the possibility at its root.

Wu Xia nodded in deep agreement: "Young man, you're really insightful. That old Wang from Xianfeng Village insisted on showing off by catching a whole poisonous snake, and the result... he died bleeding from all seven orifices, what a tragedy!"

"We were forced into this situation," Hong Yuan sighed. "The child was born sick, so we came up with a folk remedy of eating snake gallbladders. How could we afford that with just a few acres of land?"

"Later, the old lady cried herself blind, and everyone in the village said it was Liu Daxian's revenge..."

Wu Xia and her husband kept talking, making Zhang Fengxia and the other two feel uneasy. Their frustration at not catching the whole snake gradually dissipated.

"These three venomous snakes, the whole ones are worth one dollar and fifty cents, and the ones with rotten heads are worth fifty cents."

"Two large snakes will be weighed; the whole ones will cost eight yuan, the rotten ones two yuan and fifty cents... The small snakes, the good ones will cost eight mao..."

Crackling sounds!

Old Xie's fingers moved so fast they flew across the abacus beads.

"That's thirty-two yuan and fifty cents in total, take a look."

"Thirty-two yuan and fifty cents?" Zhang Fengxia and the others almost popped their eyes out, and couldn't help but exclaim. They looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief.

Those old, incomplete ones are still worth so much money.

That's almost a worker's monthly wage.

"Hey, give us a hand and weigh the snails too," Hong Yuan said, his belly protruding as he directed the others.

While everyone was bent over and busy, he quietly slipped up to Zhang Wenshan's side and quickly stuffed a roll of banknotes into Zhang Wenshan's hand: "Yu, we're not going to use the official accounts anymore."

Zhang Wenshan didn't even lift his eyelids; with a flick of his wrist, twenty yuan slipped into his pocket.

The four small-scaled fish I caught today weren't very big; at most, they'd cost five yuan a day. It seems I wasn't wrong; the state-run restaurant needs snakes.

This can be considered as revealing the truth to oneself.

While I was thinking, the snails, shrimp, and crabs had already been weighed, totaling thirteen yuan and fifty cents.

Normally, this amount of money would be enough to make everyone jump for joy.

Even with four more people sharing, each person could pocket nearly 85 cents, almost equal to a worker's daily wage, but Lin Cuihua and Ge Ergui remained calm at the moment.

Having already divided the money once, they knew exactly what was going on, not to mention the exorbitantly priced snake meat right before their eyes.

"Rabbit is nine cents a pound, all based on freshness..."

Old Xie was fiddling with the abacus, about to start calculating, when Zhang Wenshan rushed forward and stopped him.

"These two are not for sale."

"What's wrong?" Not only the state-run restaurant, but everyone else also looked puzzled.

"Take it back and eat it." Zhang Wenshan turned his head and said, "I'll make up for the money you spent on the investigation."

"No……"

Lin Cuihua blurted out that she didn't need to calculate the cost, but then she remembered that she couldn't make the decision herself, so she quickly glanced at Ge Ergui.

"Team leader, just take it and that's it. We don't know anything about it."

"Rules are rules." Zhang Wenshan shook his head with a smile. "The amount is fixed, and no one can be an exception. Even if you want to buy, that's fine too."

Lin Cuihua and Ge Ergui were somewhat puzzled.

Wu Xia clapped her hands and exclaimed, "You're simply born to do business! It took my husband and me several years to understand this principle."

Old Xie fiddled with the abacus beads a few more times and said, "That's fourteen yuan and forty cents. Take a look, if there's no problem, I'll issue the receipt."

"Your account is definitely fine, no need to check."

"We'll have to wait and see."

"That's perfect, sis, you should learn from Uncle Xie."

"Me?" Zhang Fengxia looked bewildered, pointing to herself and extending her middle finger.

Old Xie glanced at the siblings and said cheerfully, "Alright, girl, come here."

Zhang Wenshan gently nudged his sister, then strolled over to Hongyuan's side: "Brother-in-law, would it be convenient for me to get some seasonings from you?"

"What should I buy?" Hong Yuan asked instinctively, looking wary.

Is this kid planning to catch snails himself?

"Be a rabbit!" Zhang Wenshan waved the object in his hand.

"To be a rabbit?" Hong Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said generously, "Why buy anything! Just grab whatever you like."

"That won't do," Zhang Wenshan waved his hand. "You and Sister Wu have already helped me enough. Besides, I'd like to get some meat too, you see..."

He asked tentatively.

State-run restaurants have stable meat supply channels, which are cheaper, more convenient, and safer than going to supply and marketing cooperatives or the black market.

Because of their connections, they can even get a discount.

This kind of favor can make the other person feel superior and give them a sense of superiority, which can also help stabilize the relationship between the two parties.

"Sure! Just name what you need, and I'll do it for you!" Hong Yuan patted his shiny bald head and readily agreed.

Zhang Wenshan didn't hold back either.

Where can you find a place with a better selection of seasonings than a state-run restaurant these days?

He swept up the spice rack, picking up a pinch of each of Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, and more.

Finally, Hong Yuan pulled out a piece of marbled pork belly, weighing about three pounds, but only charged it for two pounds.

The total cost for everything was three yuan and fifty cents.

"Brother," Hongyuan said, wrapping up the things, glancing outside, and lowering his voice, "can we find anything rare these next couple of days?"

"How rare do you want it?" Zhang Wenshan glanced at the system's daily intelligence report, "Tiger penis and bear paw?"

"You think I'd accept this if you messed with me?" Hong Yuan rolled his eyes. "It just has to be something we don't usually get to eat, preferably a specialty dish from Northeast China."

"Specialty dishes?" Zhang Wenshan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Even if he can't get any intelligence or catches a bad opportunity, he still has a few solid ideas in mind to keep things under control.

That should be enough.

After handing over the tickets and money, Zhang Wenshan and his group left the state-run hotel warehouse in high spirits.

As the carriage reached the alley entrance, a figure on a bicycle suddenly darted out, and they were about to collide.

"Whoa!"

Ge Ergui tightened the reins with all his might, startling the people in the carriage so much that they leaned back, their hearts leaping into their throats.

Just as I was patting my chest, still shaken, the man on the bicycle started cursing.

"Are you blind? You country bumpkins, you're asking for it!"