Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 93: How about following me?
When Master Liang saw Yu Qiutang carrying the basket on an iron shoulder pole, he didn't know whether to say he was a lunatic or a psychopath.

The weight of this shoulder pole is heavier than two baskets of things.

He was originally planning to hold it in his hand to feel the weight, but he was not paying attention and almost got his feet crushed by the pole. Only then did he realize that the pole weighed more than 60 kilograms.

It really is... too outrageous.

Yu Qiutang just smiled and did not explain.

He felt that it was a waste of time to simply travel, and walking with a shoulder pole was also a good exercise.

I remember the TV series about Shaolin Temple. The monks in the series started by carrying water and then lifting water. This not only improves arm strength but also helps keep the body stable.

He just learned how to do it.

Anyway, it doesn’t affect the normal journey, it’s still quite exciting.

"Where did you get the roe deer meat?" Master Liang inserted an iron skewer into the meat to feel the texture. He picked up a piece to look at the broken ends, nodded, and seemed quite satisfied.

"I caught them in the mountains. I caught three in total and kept one at home. I remembered that you said last time that I could get some wild things for you to try to trade, so I sent it over."

"Okay, you can get it just as I told you, no wonder you make money," said Master Liang, asking the people in the kitchen to take the things, and then took Yu Qiutang to find Wu Meifen.

Wu Meifen lived in a small warehouse on the side of the Meifen Hotel, where various materials needed for the restaurant were piled up. Wu Meifen added a table inside and sat down to do the math.

Seeing Yu Qiutang, she pointed to the notebook in her hand and said, "Wait a few minutes, I'll finish the account first."

Yu Qiutang and Master Liang waited for a few minutes.

"Okay, I'm really tired. I didn't make much money, but the accounting is exhausting."

She stretched lazily, pulled the stool around, and asked with a smile: "What's up, are you back from the mountains?"

"How did you know I went to the mountains?"

"Needless to say, you take your sister for a fool, so what, did you bring good stuff?"

Yu Qiutang smiled, but before he could say anything, Master Liang next to him said, "That's right, Qiutang sent us two roe deer this time."

"Silly roe deer?"

Wu Meifen was a little surprised. She thought that even if they could catch wild animals, they would probably be rabbits and pheasants. She didn't expect to catch something as big as a roe deer all of a sudden.

"Yes, that's right, two portions, and they've been processed."

"I gonna go see."

Wu Meifen was still a little worried. This kind of wild animal was not like ordinary livestock, so she had to be extra careful when handling it. If she encountered a sick one or one killed by drugs, and it was eaten by a customer, it would be troublesome.

When she arrived at the kitchen, she found that the meat had been cut into pieces. She felt even more worried until she put the meat on the chopping board and repeatedly found traces of damage caused by the bullet. Only then did she finally feel relieved.

If he was shot, that's fine.

"It looks good. Uncle Liang, please accept it. Study the recipe and see what good it can be made into."

"Okay, boss."

"Remember to have something unique. If you eat something wild, and eat it the same as pork at home, I don't think many people would be willing to spend a lot of money on it."

Master Liang smiled and said, "You are the boss, so you are always thoughtful. I will go and make some plans."

"Thank you for your hard work~"

"It's not hard," Master Liang said to Yu Qiutang again, then returned to the kitchen.

Yu Qiutang was waiting to collect the money.

"First, I'll give you twenty bills, enough for two days' worth of Shenxian Tofu. Your nephew came yesterday, and I was worried that he might have lost it, so I'm giving it to you all today." Wu Meifen took the bag from the table pocket next to her and took out two bills and gave them to Yu Qiutang.

"Okay, Sister Meifen is very thoughtful."

"It's as you should be. You guys are really hardworking delivering tofu here early in the morning every day. Besides, it tastes really good and sells well in our restaurant. Many customers are asking us to increase the supply every day."

“That won’t work,” Yu Qiutang shook his head and rejected it. “We can’t let them be satisfied. We can’t keep it like this, where you have to snatch it to get it, and make it a scarce commodity…”

"Why do you have to do this?"

Wu Meifen looked at him in confusion, "Don't you make more profits and get more money if you sell more copies every day?"

"No, no, no, I can make more money by providing you with more divine tofu every day, but you can only do it for a short time, not for a long time.

This is because people all have a curiosity mentality. If you only provide a little bit every day, diners will feel that they can have it, and while others cannot, they are getting a bargain.

At this point, eating itself is no longer a big deal, it’s more about the pleasure of enjoying it alone. People are not all like this. They would rather go hungry than let others eat more and they eat less…”

"There is such a saying?!"

Wu Meifen felt as if the door to a new world had been opened to her. At first the remarks seemed a little strange, but upon closer inspection, they seemed to be what was meant.

"Haha, I am also like Guan Gong showing off my sword in front of him and playing with wood in front of Lu Ban, making Sister Meifen laugh at me..."

"No, no, I think what you said is very good and makes a lot of sense, especially what you said about that person...human nature..."

"Yeah, human nature."

"Yes, human nature, that makes a lot of sense," Wu Meifen clapped her hands, "In fact, I have discovered it before, but I didn't explain it as thoroughly as you did. Now that you put it this way, I understand everything."

Yu Qiutang smiled and said, "This isn't a profound theory. Sister Meifen is so smart that she can figure it out with a little thought."

Yu Qiutang spared no effort in praising Wu Meifen.

First of all, this lady in her thirties is indeed very cheerful, generous, decisive, and has a certain personal charm.

Secondly, he now mainly relies on Wu Meifen for a stable income. As long as he holds her tight, the Shenxian Tofu can be sold for three to four thousand yuan every year. If he combines it with other animals in the future, it might be no problem to make six to seven thousand yuan.

These days, people with an annual income of 10,000 yuan are considered wealthy.

There is another reason. Wu Meifen is a famous entrepreneur in Qingquan Town and even in Rongcheng in the later period. Later, Qingquan Town developed into Qingquan District of Rongcheng City. She is a big boss who is at the forefront of the business circle.

The wind starts from the tip of the green reed. If you can maintain a good relationship with him from now on, in case he has cooperation in the future, it will also pave the way in advance. Even if there is no cooperation, it will be a good connection.

"Brother Qiutang, you are really just an ordinary villager in the mountain village. Why do I feel like you are a hermit?" Wu Meifen suddenly looked at Yu Qiutang and said.

Yu Qiutang was stunned: "Why, how did I become a hermit?"

"Look, if you were really a villager, you wouldn't be able to say these things. I can say without exaggeration that among the people I have come into contact with, it is difficult to find even half a person as insightful as you. You are one of a kind."

Of course it is.

Yu Qiutang thought to himself, this is not my own wisdom, I just watched some videos, saying it is called "hunger marketing". I am not a great person, I am just standing on the shoulders of others to speak.

but.

Now that Wu Meifen attributed the credit for this kind of thinking to him, he naturally would not deny it and just smiled.

"Do you think this is like an ancient hermit? There is a place on the other side of the mountain to the south of us where many hermits lived..."

Wu Meifen talked about something further and further away. She was actually talking about some ancient hermits in Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan. Mount Zhongnan, in particular, was a holy place for hermits to check in in ancient times.

There are true hermits like Lu Lun who could not be invited back to seclusion no matter how many times the emperor invited them, and there are also people like Lu Zangyong who were seeking fame and fortune and coined the idiom "Zhongnan shortcut". People who grew up in this land are basically familiar with these stories.

There are also many folk tales or local art forms such as Qinqiang, Long Opera, and shadow puppetry that have been passed down. These legends and stories have influenced generations of people in the Sanqin area and given everyone their own special temperament.

Yu Qiutang liked to listen to operas, and he heard these things from operas, so he was quite familiar with them.

But he never expected to be chatting with a restaurant owner in the warehouse so early in the morning.

"Right, Qiu Tang, I want to discuss something with you, would you consider it?"

"What, tell me."

Wu Meifen hesitated and smiled: "I see that you have a flexible mind and are steady and reliable. Why don't you come and work with me..."

Yu Qiutang was slightly stunned, and after thinking for a few seconds, he subconsciously shook his head.

"Sister Meifen, I don't have the ability..."

"Who said you don't have it?" Wu Meifen interrupted him, "Your sister runs a shop and sees so many people every day. Can't I tell whether you have the ability or not?"

Yu Qiutang didn't know what to say and could only smile bitterly.

"You come and look after my shop and give me advice. When my restaurant business gets big, I want to open more shops, and you will be my second boss..."

Yu Qiutang had to admit that this suggestion was a bit tempting.

He knew that the Meifen Hotel would grow bigger in the future. If he had followed Wu Meifen from the initial stage, he would definitely have achieved very good results in the future.

however.

Working for others was not the path he wanted to take after his rebirth.

Working for others means handing over your freedom to someone else and losing some of your freedom. Once you get used to the working life, you can no longer get rid of it.

After finally being reborn, he didn't expect to live this kind of life.

"Sister Meifen, I'm very happy that you think highly of me, but I'm used to living in the mountains and I don't have any other ideas for now. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future. Let's talk about it then?"

"You mean, you refused?"

Wu Meifen didn't expect that Yu Qiutang would not agree to such a good idea.

Her Mei Fen Hotel is doing so well now that the salaries paid to her employees are several times higher than those of many people in the regular staff. Others are eager to work for her.

"I'm sorry, I really don't have that idea right now," Yu Qiutang apologized again, saying that it was just to give each other a way out temporarily to avoid difficulties in handling the situation.

Wu Meifen was a little disappointed, but she returned to normal in an instant, "Okay, everyone has their own aspirations, I respect your ideas."

"Well, even if you don't follow me, if there's anything I can do for you, I won't stand idly by. Just tell me directly."

Yu Qiutang made another promise, which was considered as a further way to pave the way for Wu Meifen. He still had to stabilize this tree in the future and could not sever the relationship.

"Okay, it's settled then. I won't be polite in the future."

"Then... can you please calculate the cost of two roe deer meats for me?" Yu Qiutang blinked.

"Ah...haha, alright alright, I'll give it to you. You've got me stunned all of a sudden." Wu Meifen laughed, officially moving on from the previous topic. "I've never collected roe deer, nor have I sold any. I wonder how much one costs. Is it by the pound or the piece?"

Yu Qiutang gave her a general introduction.

When people sell wild animals, they usually look at the item first and then sell it by weight.

In theory, no matter what wild animal it is, the bigger the size, the more expensive it will be.

There are also some very small ones, such as squirrels, commonly known as greyhounds, which are sold directly according to size. It is meaningless to weigh such small things.

But larger game animals, such as roe deer and wild boars, are sold by the kilogram. The specific weight of a kilogram depends on the quality of the animal and whether it is male or female.

Wu Meifen listened for a while and thought for a moment, "Well, this is our first time to cook wild animals, and I don't know how they will sell. But no matter what, since we asked you to deliver them, and given our long-term cooperative relationship, I won't let you suffer a loss.

Just tell us what the market price is, and we will charge you 10% higher than the market price as a token of our recognition of Brother Qiu. What do you think?"

It can only be said that many people doing business at this time still maintain basic human integrity and emotions, which is why many phenomenal entrepreneurs have emerged.

Unlike many entrepreneurs in later generations, they were more likely to succumb to capital, misunderstood the meaning of businessmen pursuing profits, only cared about their own interests, and cut off the livelihoods of many others.

Wu Meifen was just a woman from a small town, but she had such awareness, which was really not easy and rare. It was also the foundation for her to become a well-known female entrepreneur later.

Yu Qiutang thought about it for a while. He didn't know the price of the roe deer yet, but he remembered that Zhang Jiashen charged him 30 yuan for the one, so it should not be without basis. So he said, "How about this, give me 50 yuan for the two."

"Only 50 bucks?"

Wu Meifen shook her head. "A pound of pork is now selling for nearly two yuan. No matter how good your roe deer meat is, it's worth more than pork. I think two pieces of it weigh about 40 to 50 pounds."

"That's not the case. After all, pigs are domesticated, and more effort is put into raising them. Pork has more fat and oil, and tastes more delicious. Although roe deer meat is rare, it has to be cooked well to be more delicious than pork."

Seeing Yu Qiutang's sincere words, Wu Meifen couldn't help but sigh: "Qiutang, you are really an honest person. Your sister goes around shopping every day and has seen all kinds of people selling things, but she rarely sees someone like you who says that your own things are not good."

Yu Qiutang smiled.

He has his own wisdom.

When communicating with different people, you need to use different personalities and methods.

Since Wu Meifen is a woman who values ​​feelings and loyalty very much, she certainly doesn't want to be deceived and would be disgusted by others playing tricks on her.

She defines herself as a young person who is honest, punctual, and capable, so he communicates with her in this direction.

It may seem like you are at a disadvantage, but in fact you may gain more in the end.

Sure enough, Wu Meifen insisted on buying two and gave him 75 yuan. Seeing that he refused to accept it, she said that this was the first time, and if it sold well, then she would keep the price. If the price was too high and difficult to sell, it would not be too late to adjust it next time.

What else can Yu Qiutang say? Just go on.

(End of this chapter)