bookrebus Chapter 30: Trading wolf pelts, acquiring mules, and reaping a rich harvest.
Chapter 30: Trading wolf pelts, acquiring mules, and reaping a rich harvest.
You get used to riding the forest train after a few tries.
Li Ju'an paid his 2-cent ticket. The train conductor recognized him. Seeing Da Hu at his feet, who seemed about to say something, he offered him a cigarette. The conductor waved him on.
The man and his dog arrived in the county town and headed straight for the fur purchasing area of the supply and marketing cooperative.
There are plenty of game in the mountains, and hunters from the city also take the train to the countryside to hunt. They usually go early on Sunday mornings and return in the evening. On this day, there are many hunters at the county market, mostly old hunters who hunt big-clawed goats and catching takins.
There were many hunters at the market, but few people asked about his business, so he simply went to the supply and marketing cooperative's purchasing station.
The supply and marketing cooperative's purchasing station accepted all kinds of scrap metal, including copper and iron. The person in charge of collecting furs happened to be Jiang Man's maternal grandfather, a receiving clerk at the cooperative. Because her grandfather had experience in the fur business in his younger years, the purchasing station assigned him to manage that area.
There were many hunters queuing up at the purchasing station. While waiting for the old man in charge of collecting furs, they showed off their hauls. Some were carrying cat pelts, others were carrying sheepskins...
The purchase value of furs depends on the breed, as well as the condition and size of the pelt. Ordinary mink fur can fetch around 370 yuan, fox fur around 60 yuan, and red fox fur around 80 yuan.
He noticed a young hunter carrying four weasel pelts, one of which had been exchanged for 18 yuan, and another tattered weasel pelt for 8 yuan each. The young hunter, hot-blooded and unwilling to accept this, argued fiercely with Grandpa Jiang Man, almost coming to blows.
The hunters in line were furious. "There's a long line behind us waiting to exchange our hides. You beat up the old man who buys hides, how are we going to get paid for them today?"
Three burly old hunters, the young hunter propped himself up under his armpits, and cut in line to start exchanging greyhound pelts. Nine complete greyhound pelts yielded 18 pieces, and four torn pelts yielded 4 pieces.
Li Ju'an observed carefully, and after he joined the queue, he exchanged three well-processed gray wolf pelts for one 150-yuan pelt, making the total of three pelts 450 yuan.
Every part of a wolf is valuable. He carries wolf teeth that he has pulled out. A good wolf tooth can be exchanged for 10 or 20 yuan, while a five-centimeter wolf tooth can be sold for more than 100 yuan.
The old hunters around stared wide-eyed, stunned.
The young hunter looked Li Ju'an up and down in surprise and asked in astonishment, "Young man, you're quite the honest fellow. Did you hunt all of these?"
Li Ju'an raised his eyes, grinned, and nodded.
They were even more surprised. Hunters all knew that wolf pelts sold well, and that every part of a wolf was valuable; if they were exported instead of going to the supply and marketing cooperative, they could fetch an even higher price.
Even experienced hunters dare not easily hunt wolves. This is because wolves are extremely vengeful. If you hunt a female wolf, you will be hunted and haunted by the male wolves and the entire pack for years. If you hunt a wolf cub, you are doomed! The entire wolf pack is extremely vengeful and may stalk a hunter for years, seizing the opportunity to tear him to pieces in revenge.
It's not that they're afraid to hunt wolves, but the consequences of doing so are severe; a slight misstep could lead to disaster. Therefore, experienced hunters don't easily provoke wolves.
But Li Ju'an was so young, looking only about 18 years old, a few years younger than the young hunter, yet he managed to exchange three thick, large wolf pelts in one go? And each one was in good condition and large in size. Just thinking about it sent chills down their spines; they could imagine the fierce battle he had gone through.
The young hunter, Song Desheng, opened his mouth and stared intently at Li Ju'an. He was eager to befriend Li Ju'an and immediately began to ingratiate himself with him.
"Young man, you're quite capable. Which village do you live in? Come join us in the mountain village sometime."
He had just walked over and hadn't even gotten close to Li Ju'an when the big tiger at Li Ju'an's feet bit him hard.
Da Hu disliked strangers approaching Li Ju'an, unless they were beautiful young women from the village. Moreover, hunters were known for their strong bloodlust and the smell of blood, which made it hard to tell if they had ill intentions.
Hunter Song Desheng was startled by the hunting dog and then noticed the Qingshan Dog. The tiger had a strong, powerful back and a prominent sternum, indicating large ventral fossae, suggesting good long-distance running ability and coordination. Moreover, the tiger's fur was dry and brittle.
A hunting dog's coat shouldn't be too shiny or oily; if it's oily, the dog will be lazy. The hair on its spine should be coarse.
Young hunter Song Desheng felt a little embarrassed when Li Ju'an ignored him, so he started the conversation by talking about the big tiger, "What a good dog, with a big, flat nose. Dogs with this kind of nose are hard to find, and nine out of ten dogs with this kind of nose are good enough to be grooms."
Having learned from the experiences of the Lu brothers and Sun Weimin who borrowed dogs, Li Ju'an became more wary of unfamiliar hunters.
He didn't say anything, but took the male sika deer's antlers out of the woven bag and had them weighed by the old man at the supply and marketing cooperative's purchasing station.
These are a very large pair of male deer antlers, perfectly intact and in their original state, without any artificial polishing. They are in excellent condition. What's even rarer is that the old antlers have ossified and have medicinal value, so they can be sold for the same price as those sold in traditional Chinese medicine shops.
As soon as the heavy male antlers appeared, all eyes at the supply and marketing cooperative's purchasing station were drawn to them.
The old hunters were so amazed that they couldn't take their eyes off him.
"These old deer antlers are all ossified, that's rare."
"Young man, where did you find this? Let me ask you for advice."
"This deer could probably fetch a lot of money; it's a treasure from head to toe."
The entire deer is valuable, with many parts used in medicine. Its antlers, horns, blood, whip, tail, fetus, tendons, bones, liver, etc., are all precious Chinese medicinal herbs, and many are also excellent ingredients for dietary therapy.
Li Ju'an exchanged the deer body parts he brought down the mountain for 150 yuan with the old man at the supply and marketing cooperative.
He counted the thick wad of ten-yuan notes. They say a man with money in his pocket feels secure. Clutching the wad, he quickly tucked it into his undershirt, feeling utterly satisfied.
He chatted with the veteran hunters and also talked about the mountains with the young hunter Song Desheng. They were all fellow hunters who went into the mountains to hunt, and they got along very well.
Song Desheng's family worked in a textile factory, and they happened to be able to get a sewing machine ticket. Li Ju'an was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly made some connections, giving them cigarettes and alcohol, and used his connections to get a sewing machine ticket.
In the 80s, when everything required ration coupons, sewing machines were a treasure in every household, a highly practical and valuable item. A sewing machine ticket, obtained through connections, was even more precious. Furthermore, there was a rule that the ticket had to be purchased by a certain date; otherwise, it would be invalid.
Li Ju'an took out a bill and had Song Desheng write a receipt. Song Desheng was already doing this without any investment, and since he was also interested in befriending Li Ju'an, he readily agreed.
Song Desheng overheard Li Ju'an chatting with the old hunter, saying he wanted to get a large animal, preferably one that could go into the mountains to hunt. He immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "We're brothers, I'll make sure you're satisfied with this little thing. I have a relative who has a stable job in the production team and is very familiar with the production team leader. I'll have him get you a good mule, guaranteed to be better than the animals sold at the market."
They were both straightforward people. Li Ju'an was worried about not being able to buy a good animal. The mules at the market were expensive, and their stamina wasn't necessarily good. If they were stubborn, they would be difficult to train. If he could get a mule from the production team, he wouldn't have to worry about not having a horse to pull the game when hunting.
He quickly agreed, saying that as long as the mule brought by the production team was good-natured and had good stamina, everything else was negotiable.