Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 108: Selling Bear Meat and Making a Small Profit

Before going to bed at night, Yu Qiutang saw Yu Chunmei rubbing her legs. The most uncomfortable part of her disease was her legs. She often felt as if her legs did not belong to her and she had difficulty controlling them.

Need to massage frequently.

He planned to tell his sister that once the house over there was settled, he would do nothing else but to see a doctor for her first.

But after thinking about it, he held back.

Things haven't reached that stage yet, so don't give your sister too much hope for the time being.

What people with miserable lives fear most is not the lack of hope, but being given a hope and then being told that it is just a bubble and having that hope shattered in front of them.

That could lead to their eternal damnation.

Bear with it.

Everything will be fine in the end.
.
The next morning, Yu Qiutang and his two children who were going to school got up from their beds at the same time.

As time came to late September, the days gradually became shorter and the mornings came much later than before.

When I got up, it was just dawn.

His red fist still did not drop. This was something he had to do whenever he was at home.

As he continued to train, he could still feel silent changes in his body, as if the source of his strength was deeper and heavier, and his body strength had also improved slightly.

But he had no idea how much it had improved.

I just know it's useful.

Carrying the magic tofu, I arrived near Yu Qiujiang's home and happened to see Wang Haofeng driving a mule cart at a fork in the road, shouting from afar.

The two of them gathered together and went towards Yu Qiujiang's house together.

"You were able to get a mule cart so late last night. You're quite proud of yourself, aren't you?"

Wang Haofeng smiled and said, "Of course I have my own way."

"What's the solution? Tell me."

"Hey, I can't tell you this. I'm not trying to brag, but I may not be a big shot outside, but in our team seven, my words are definitely influential.

You don’t know, if I wasn’t so familiar with you, it would be hard to take action, and several families would have offered their daughters to me.”

"Are you really not exaggerating?"

"Of course, if you don't believe me, go and ask around. I'm a very popular girl, and there are many girls who don't..."

As he spoke, Wang Haofeng suddenly stopped talking, and said with some embarrassment, "Hey, actually you are right, I am not a man who is popular with girls."

Yu Qiutang was slightly startled, then immediately understood the reason, and said with a smile: "Why, you and Chunyan haven't made any progress yet, haven't you been to the hospital several times?"

"It's useless to go there," Wang Haofeng said depressedly, with his head down. "I was just too eager to do it, but the girl didn't have the same idea at all. I can't force her."

"Oh," Yu Qiutang pondered for a moment, trying to come up with some ideas for his good brother, but after thinking about it, he actually didn't have much experience. His previous life with Mi Yali was smooth sailing without any setbacks, and the two of them didn't have many opportunities to quarrel.

A gentle woman, a wife, often makes a man feel simple about marriage.

What does it mean.

That is to say, men will feel that their charm and their actions are all correct, and that getting along with women is actually very simple. As long as they are the same as themselves, they can win the hearts of girls.

But in fact.

There are all kinds of women in the world, there is no fixed pattern.

What is honey to you may be arsenic in the eyes of others. Not only will it not feel sweet, but it may even poison you to death.

"Take your time. As long as you are sincere, you will be able to move others. This can't be rushed."

This was the only way he could comfort his good friend.

"It can only be the."

Wang Haofeng nodded and thought to himself, I wish I were as handsome as you and had your skills.

It's so uncomfortable.

I am happy that such an awesome person is my brother.

I was also depressed that such an awesome person was my brother.

After arriving at Yu Qiujiang's home, the bear meat was successfully loaded onto the truck. After removing the fat, there was still about 270 to 280 kilograms of meat, but the limbs and head were packed separately.

Plus a not-so-complete bear skin.

After packing up, the two men drove the mule cart towards the town.

The mule cart was not much faster than Yu Qiutang carrying the cart on his back, and it still took more than 30 minutes to reach the town entrance.

It was just dawn at this time. Although the sun rose from the east and its light shone on the earth, there was no heat. When it shone on people, it felt cold in contrast.

The two did not stop in Nantou, but went straight to Meifen Restaurant on East Road.

It just so happened that Wu Meifen and Chef Liang were talking outside the kitchen door.

What surprised Yu Qiutang was that Wu Meifen was also holding a cigarette without a filter in her hand.

I've seen her a few times before, and she didn't seem to have ever smoked.

Seeing them coming, Wu Meifen's somewhat gloomy expression improved a little. Seeing Yu Qiutang's eyes lingering on her cigarette, she threw the cigarette to the ground and crushed it out with her foot.

"You're here today. I thought I would have to wait until at least tomorrow." Wu Meifen smiled and took two steps forward.

This is a polite gesture.

Yu Qiutang would definitely come anyway, so it was okay for her to just stand outside the back door and wait, but she would just take two symbolic steps to show her respect for Yu Qiutang.

Master Liang also greeted him with a smile.

"Sister Meifen, Uncle Liang," Yu Qiutang jumped out of the car and introduced Wang Haofeng to the two of them with a smile.

Wang Haofeng was still a little embarrassed. When two people greeted him, he was shy, like a little girl.

He is really too honest.

He can only brag in front of Yu Qiutang and is relatively extroverted.

"How was your trip into the mountains this time? Did you get anything good? The roe deer meat sold really well last time, and people ask me every day if there's anything new coming in. Now that you're back, you must have some good stuff in your car, right?"

"Hey, I have the stuff, but I don't know if Meifen can afford it."

"What good stuff?" Wu Meifen was about to lift the cloth covering it.

"Bear meat."

Wu Meifen was startled and quickly pulled the cloth away. She saw the slab of meat cut into two large pieces on the car and was so shocked that she was speechless.

Master Liang was standing by and watching with a smile on his face. After hearing this, he walked over to the cart, touched the meat on the cart with his hands, put his nose close to smell it, nodded and said, "It's really bear meat. I haven't seen it for a long time, at least five or six years."

"You can do it, Brother Qiu. You're really impressive to be able to get bear meat. With this ability, is there anything in this mountain that you can't handle?"

"It's just luck," Yu Qiutang smiled modestly, "How about it, Sister Meifen, Master Liang, do you think you can eat this meat? If not, I'll take it to the wild market."

"Yes, why not!"

Before Wu Meifen could say anything, Master Liang patted the side of the mule cart and said, "It must be edible. I haven't cooked bear meat for a long time. If I don't cook it now, I'm afraid I'll forget all about it."

Wu Meifen and Yu Qiutang didn't expect Master Liang to be so excited, and they smiled at each other.

"Uncle Liang, you haven't told me yet that you have this ability?" Wu Meifen said with a smile.

"I didn't tell you, right? And you didn't ask," Master Liang continued to check the bear meat, rummaging through the bear paws and legs in the bag next to him, and poked the bear's nose. "Besides, it's no use telling you before. You can't get me bear meat to cook it, right?"

"That's true."

Wu Meifen nodded and asked Yu Qiutang, "Brother Qiutang, Uncle Liang said that this meat can be accepted, so I will accept it. Anyway, I don't understand, so I will listen to Uncle Liang."

"Sister Meifen, you trust Master Liang so much."

"Of course, Uncle Liang was my father's comrade-in-arms and the one who saved his life..."

"Why are you talking about this? It's all in the past."

"I won't tell you. Then, brother Qiu, how do you sell this bear meat? Do you price it by the whole piece or by the pound?"

"Well..."

Yu Qiutang had actually thought about it before. A pound of pork now costs about two yuan. Bear meat should be rarer than pork, but bear meat is an unexpected thing and does not require as much effort as pork.

So it was difficult for him to determine the price.

I just have a rough hope in my mind that I can get it at 1.5 yuan per pound, which is slightly cheaper than pork.

Bear paws and bear heads are charged separately.

The most valuable parts of a bear are its paws and nose, which is why there is a saying that you can't have your cake and eat it too.

But the actual taste of bear paw is a little hard for most people to get used to.

In fact, the main ingredients of bear paws are collagen, fat, carbohydrates, etc. Compared with chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle and sheep, they are almost the same in terms of main indicators.

Since bear paws have thick fat and a strong smell, not all chefs can cook bear paws well. If they don’t reach a certain level, the smell cannot be concealed and it will be very unpalatable.

In many places, the traditional way of eating bear paws is to cook them with other local specialties, and they need to be boiled and stewed many times. Even if the bear paws are well cooked, they taste a bit like fat elbows without any flavor.

In addition, bear paws are difficult to cook. An adult black bear paw takes at least three or four hours to cook, so bear paws are slow-cooked. If you don’t have a lot of patience, you really don’t have the time.

But sometimes people eat for the taste, and sometimes just for the novelty.

Otherwise, why would pangolins be almost eaten to extinction?

Actually, that thing has no taste.

If we only talk about the taste of meat, pork is the best in the world, followed by beef, mutton, chicken and duck. Otherwise, why would people regard pork as the mainstream meat and the other meats as supplements?

"It's all right. This is the first time I've gotten this thing. Since Master Liang has used it before, he should know the approximate price. Just give him a fair price."

"Well," Chef Liang seemed a little hesitant. He knew the price was correct, but he was just the chef of the store, not the boss. His bid still depended on what the boss said.

"Uncle Liang, since you have handled this business before, please tell me the price. I will add 10% to the previous price." Wu Meifen said with a smile.

"That's what I'm saying," Master Liang got the boss's instructions, and after thinking for a while, he said:
"How about this, we divide it into two parts. Bear paws are calculated separately. I used to charge five yuan per pound. Bear nose and bear paws are the same price. The rest of the meat is the same price as pork, so two yuan."

At this point, he remembered something and asked Yu Qiutang, "Did you leave the bear oil behind?"

Yu Qiutang smiled and said, "Well, my sister is not in good health, so I saved the bear oil for her to use."

"Well, I said I didn't see any bear oil. So what do you think of the price? Are you willing to accept it?" Yu Qiutang had actually already accepted it in his heart.

This was much more than he had imagined, so what was there to be dissatisfied about?

But he didn't show excitement right away. Instead, he continued to think about it. After thinking for dozens of seconds, he smiled and said, "Okay, let's go with this price."

"Wait, didn't I say to give you 10% more? Bear paws and bear trunks are valuable, right? Then I'll give you 5.5 yuan per pound, and the rest of the meat will be 2.2 yuan."

“No, no,” Yu Qiutang immediately shook his head, “Just give it in round numbers, Sister Meifen, so it’ll be easier to calculate the money.”

Yu Qiutang certainly hopes to sell as much as possible, but he is still clear about the principle of eating enough at every meal.

"You are being polite. Why are you being polite to me? If you increase the price by 10%, I will lose money. What I say is the same as what you gentlemen say. I will take it as my duty."

"Sister Meifen..."

Yu Qiutang could always see a courage in Wu Meifen that was no less than that of a man. It was truly an exception for such a woman to appear in this small place in this era.

Yu Qiutang even thought that Wu Meifen was also a time traveler.

"Okay, that's it. Uncle Liang, ask someone to weigh it and calculate the money."

"Yes."

Uncle Liang asked the people behind to move things inside and weigh them. Wu Meifen called Yu Qiutang to weigh them again. Yu Qiutang said that he knew the scale well and told them to just weigh it and not to worry.

He also won Wu Meifen's favor.

She asked someone to watch the mule cart and asked Yu Qiutang and Wang Haofeng to go and have some water so that they could settle the bill later.

But Wang Haofeng was embarrassed and unwilling to leave the mule cart, so Yu Qiutang had to follow him to the small warehouse next door.

It's still very tight, but there are fewer things inside, and it looks like some adjustments have been made.

After entering, Wu Meifen took out an enamel cup from the small cabinet on the side, picked up the thermos and poured more than half a cup of water into it, and pushed it in front of Yu Qiutang, "Drink some hot water. It's not easy to go out so early in the morning."

"Thank you."

Yu Qiutang took the water and brought it to his mouth, but found that the water temperature was too high and he could not drink it, so he took a sip and held the cup in his arms.

"Brother Qiu, I thought you were very capable before, but I didn't expect you to be so capable. There are hunters in every village within a radius of dozens of miles, but I've never heard of anyone who can hunt a bear."

Wu Meifen sighed sincerely.

"It was all luck. I was really lucky to come across..."

"It depends on what you want to make up," Wu Meifen said, with a half-smile, "You can tell others this, but if you tell this to your sister, do you think I will believe you?"

Yu Qiutang had no choice but to respond with a smile.

For someone who managed to kill a bear to say that he was lucky is indeed a bit too modest.

"Do you remember what I told you last time?"

"Ok?"

"You are the one who needs my help. I recently bought a few shops nearby and want to expand my shop. I really need help, to keep the place under control. Do you have the ability to do that?"

Relationships need someone who can watch over the situation like this.

Yu Qiutang immediately understood Wu Meifen's idea. The people here were a bit tough and the streets were in a mess. Wu Meifen must have some tricks up her sleeve to be able to achieve this level of business.

But she is a woman after all, and she probably can't handle it sometimes, so she values ​​my abilities and wants to work under her.

But this issue has actually been discussed before.

He had clearly refused.

This doesn't fit his development path.

It is impossible for him to make a living by doing these things for others after his rebirth. It is too shameful for a reborn person.

Even if he knew, since Wu Meifen said so, she would definitely give him a generous reward.

He smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

"If this is the case, I really can't agree to it. I said last time that I'm not interested in this."

Yu Qiutang tried his best to make his refusal gentle and not offensive, "Sister Meifen, I prefer a free and easy life, farming and hunting. I don't seek to be rich, but I will be satisfied if I can make a little money."

Seeing Wu Meifen's disappointed face, he hesitated, but still said sincerely: "Well, Sister Meifen, I am not destined to help you, but if you need my help temporarily, just tell me. As long as it does not violate public morality and does not violate laws and disciplines, I will definitely not refuse to help you as long as I can."

"You really won't consider it," Wu Meifen was still unwilling to give up, "I am really sincere."

"It really doesn't work."

The two of them stared at each other for a while. Wu Meifen took out a cigarette from the drawer and lit it with a match. "Want one?"

Yu Qiutang shook his head, "No."

"It's rare to find a man who doesn't smoke." Wu Meifen took a puff, puffing out thick smoke.

Yu Qiutang noticed that she was not a very good smoker. The smoke she inhaled only passed through her mouth and was not inhaled into her lungs. For smokers, this was a pure waste of food.

The smell of cigarettes filled the air, but Yu Qiutang actually thought it smelled good...

Well, he doesn't plan to smoke in this life, but he smoked all his life in his previous life. He still feels very addicted when the smell of cigarettes enters his nose. He stops smoking entirely by willpower.

"Okay then. I won't force you. Liu Bei invited Zhuge Liang to come out of seclusion and went through three visits to his thatched cottage. I have mentioned it to you twice now, and I won't mention it again later."

"I'm sorry."

"It's nothing. Everyone has their own aspirations. Let's just leave it at that. If I need your help, I will definitely let you know, but I won't let you help for nothing. You must not go back on your word when the time comes."

"That's natural."

"Haha, you are such an interesting person. You are so capable at such a young age, and you can still stick to yourself. You are much better than most adults."

"Haha, I'm not that good either."

At this time, Master Liang came in and brought the weight for weighing.

"There are four bear paws, a total of 19.6 jin, let's say 20 jin, for ease of calculation. The bear's nose is about 2 jin, so the total is 22 jin.

As for the meat, after weighing it, the total weight is 289 kilograms, let's say 290 kilograms, then the total weight is..."

As Master Liang was talking, he forgot the price.

Wu Meifen smiled, calculated for a while and said it was 636 yuan. Including the bear paw and the nose, the total was yuan.

Yu Qiutang didn't read much, but he wasn't as fast at calculating as Wu Meifen.

But he roughly calculated in his mind how much one dollar and fifty cents would be, and now there would be an extra one or two hundred dollars, so he would know it was about the same.

He didn't deliberately calculate slowly, as that would be too troublesome. Not only would it allow Wu Meifen to see his weakness, but it would also make people think he was straightforward.

People have already offered to raise the price by 10%, but there is no point in haggling over it.

"right?"

"That's right." He nodded with a smile, calculating in his mind how thick the stack of more than 700 yuan was.

I haven't come into contact with so much cash in a long time.

"Okay, including today's magic tofu, the total is 767. I'll give you 770."

Look, how straightforward they are.

Yu Qiutang was even more determined that what he did was correct.

Wu Meifen is a straightforward person. If she were to be fussy and calculative, the other party might not value her so much.

"You have to freeze the bear meat. Don't let it go bad. Bear paws are hard to cook..."

Yu Qiutang subconsciously reminded him a few times. He knew that bear paws were difficult to make, but he quickly remembered that Master Liang said he had made it before and dared to directly ask for the goods, so he must be no ordinary person.

There is no need to be so long-winded.

After taking the thick stack of money, Yu Qiutang put it close to his body and immediately felt the bulge inside. He felt satisfied, but also a little nostalgic for mobile payment in later generations.

Transferring money is much simpler.

It’s so troublesome to carry so much money in my arms now.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two of them sent Yu Qiutang to the back kitchen. Before parting, Wu Meifen seemed to have something else to say, but she didn't say it in the end. She just smiled and said that she remembered their agreement.

Yu Qiutang felt that she must have encountered some trouble, probably related to people in society.

But this kind of thing is like a dog-skin plaster, once it sticks to your body, it is difficult to wash off.

It’s better not to get involved easily.

If he really can't avoid the attack later, he will deal with it later. He has been practicing his red fist for some time, so this is a good opportunity to try out its strength.

Let’s see how many people can withstand his strength and boxing skills.

"Where to go now?"

Walking out of East Street, Wang Haofeng asked Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang thought for a moment, "There will be too many people in the town, and it will be inconvenient to drive a mule cart in and out. You can just wait for me at the South Gate... Oh, or you can wait for me at the health center. After I finish the work here, I will go see Uncle Liu. I haven't thanked him for giving me the gun last time."

"Okay, I'll go there first. You should take the bear skin and the gun with you, right? You can just put the basket in the car."

"Well, I'll take the bear skin with me."

The bear skin had not been treated yet. He just sprinkled some salt water on it last night to prevent bacteria from growing.

There have been various ways of smoking bear skin since ancient times. Yu Qiutang knows some of this, but he himself does not use bear skin to make things, so he has never thought about processing it. On the contrary, this kind of original bear skin is the most popular for bear skin collectors, and the quality of the skin can be seen at a glance.

Yu Qiutang carried a bag of bear skins and walked towards Yeshi.

A bag of Coriolus versicolor was placed close to the body.

There are many thieves at that time. If it is taken by someone who doesn’t know the value of something, he or she will think it is trash and throw it away.

But be careful.

We walked through the bustling crowd, went around the south side of Qingquan Tower, and went straight to the wild market located in a poplar forest.

At this season, the leaves of the poplar trees have begun to fall, and a thick layer of yellow leaves has accumulated on the ground. A group of people are arguing and discussing business among the gaps between the trees and on the yellow leaves.

Yu Qiutang simply passed by the others and found Old Qin, whose eyes were fast in the crowd. When he saw Yu Qiutang and the bag on his shoulder, his eyes lit up and he hurried forward.

(End of this chapter)