Chapter 1317
Hard Work Fee
Just as Wang An was about to say something to Wang Li, Feng Chengmin continued:
"You little brat, you've been making money with your fourth brother these past two years, huh? You're so arrogant now. Go ahead and try making money on your own, see how much you can earn by yourself. All you do is brag all day long."
The phrase "single-handedly digging for ginseng" actually describes people who go into the mountains to dig for ginseng alone, but locally it also generally refers to people who rely entirely on themselves and do not need any help from anyone.
Upon hearing Feng Chengmin's words, Wang Li's eyes widened, and he was immediately speechless.
There was no other way. If it weren't for Wang An taking him under his wing, he would be no different from those other young people in the village who only knew how to "face the black soil and turn their backs to the sky." He would have had trouble building even a plastic greenhouse, let alone five spacious and bright brick houses.
After a pause, Feng Chengmin continued:
"It's only in the last few years that the policies have loosened, which has allowed us to save money. If it were a few years ago, before the collective system, what was yours? If you hunted a bear, the bear's gall bladder was yours, right? Most of it went to the public, you know?"
Perhaps caught up in the conversation, Feng Chengmin squinted his eyes as if recalling something, and said again:
“These bear bile items have only become worth a little money in the last two years. I remember back in the 70s, a black bear gallbladder weighing more than 2 ounces only sold for less than 500 yuan, and a grass gallbladder was only a hundred or so yuan. Those were enough to make the three of us brothers very happy.”
And so, Feng Chengmin went on and on, rambling on and on about a whole bunch of things that were like "an old sow thinking about bran for ten thousand years," and Wang An and the other two couldn't interrupt him, so they just listened helplessly.
But to be honest, listening to Feng Chengmin tell these stories was actually quite interesting.
Finally, after Feng Chengmin finished speaking, Wang An hurriedly said:
“Then let’s do it this way, Uncle. You stay home and collect bear bile. When you’ve collected enough, bring it to me, and I’ll settle the bill and pay you right then and there. Then you can take the money home and continue collecting. But the three of us have to keep 10% of the profit. What do you think?”
Wang An did this because he could foresee that, given Feng Chengmin's familiarity with the hunters in the various villages and the old mountain dogs, Feng Chengmin would be able to collect more bear bile than Wang An and his two companions.
If the four of them get mixed up, Feng Chengmin will definitely be the one who suffers the most.
Feng Chengmin wasn't stupid, so as soon as Wang An said that, Feng Chengmin immediately understood the key point and said with a smile:
"You little rascal, you think you can get away with this by taking advantage of me? Hehehehe."
Wang An's plan was seen through, but Wang An didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and said:
"There's nothing I can do. You're my uncle-in-law, so it's fine for me to make money from anyone else, but making money from you is just wrong."
Feng Chengmin shook his head and said with a very firm attitude:
"One percent is definitely not enough, it has to be twenty percent. The one percent you negotiated with the pharmacy over there won't conflict with our business. After that, you keep the remaining twenty percent of what I make. Otherwise, I'm not going to get involved with you guys."
Wang An looked at Feng Chengmin, whose face was resolute, and could only say helplessly:
"Alright then, 20% or 20%, it's settled then."
And so, the four of them discussed it all the way in the car, finally managing to consider all the details.
In the end, Feng Chengmin did not go straight home, but instead took a car to Wang An's house.
The main reason was that Feng Chengmin didn't have a balance scale, so the balance scale that Wang An had kept as a spare was given to Feng Chengmin to use first.
Feng Chengmin didn't stay at Wang An's house for long. Wang An brought him a balance scale and some local specialties from Hebei Province. At Feng Chengmin's insistence, Wang An drove him back to Linjiatun.
The reason Feng Chengmin was in such a hurry to get back was because he said that as soon as he got home, he would start buying bear bile and bezoar.
In Feng Chengmin's words, almost all hunters would sell their bear bile and fur before the Lunar New Year. If they couldn't sell them before the supply and marketing cooperatives or medicinal herb purchasing stations, they would lose a lot of money.
It must be said that what Feng Chengmin said makes a lot of sense.
After Wang An returned home, he called Wang Li and Mu Xueli to the west room, because the three of them hadn't divided the money yet.
As soon as the three entered the large west room, Mu Xueli poured all the money from the sale onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Wang An looked at the pile of money and turned to Mu Xueli, smiling broadly, saying:
"Although there's a lot of money this time, there's not much left for you."
Mu Xueli rubbed her nose and said with a grin:
"As long as I get some points, that's fine. It's my fault for not doing those jobs."
Unusually, Wang Li did not provoke Mu Xueli.
The three men sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), and Wang An counted the money as he spoke:
“I had four bear gallbladders of my own, which sold for a total of 6641 yuan. Of that 1610 yuan, I kept 664 yuan. Adding the rest, it came to 7305 yuan, so let’s say 7300 yuan.”
As he spoke, Wang An placed seven stacks of ten-yuan bills in front of him, and then counted out 30 ten-yuan bills from the money treasury and placed them on top of the seven stacks.
Immediately afterwards, Wang An added:
“The bear bile from the three of us sold for a total of 9398, let’s say 9400 yuan. Add 940, that’s 10340. You two each got 3100 yuan, and I got 4140 yuan.”
As he spoke, Wang An gave Wang Li and Mu Xueli each three stacks of ten large ten-yuan bills, and took four stacks of fourteen large ten-yuan bills for himself.
Then, Wang An said to Wang Li:
"The bezoar, pig gallstones, and pig stomach, including the 10% premium, sold for a total of 4730 yuan. I paid 300 yuan for the cow, so we should split the 4430 yuan between us."
In this way, Wang An took 2510 yuan for himself and 2210 yuan for Wang Li.
At this point, of the 22380 yuan on the kang (a heated brick bed), 22360 yuan had been divided up, with Wang An receiving 13950 yuan. Of course, 300 yuan of that was the money Wang An had spent to buy the ox; it could only be considered capital, not profit.
Of the remaining money, Wang Li received 5310 yuan, while Mu Xueli received only 3100 yuan.
There were 20 yuan left on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Wang An shoved the 20 yuan in front of Mu Xueli and said with a smile:
"You've been carrying that money around so much, it must be hard on you. Consider this 20 yuan a token of your appreciation."
As soon as Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xueli's face turned red. The words "hardship fee" were what Mu Xueli had said to Wang An back then. She still remembered that she had been kicked by Wang An for the 20 yuan hardship fee.
After dividing the money, Wang An said to the two men:
"It's almost dark. Are you two going to eat here, or go home now?"
Given the relationship between Wang An and the other two, there was absolutely no need for formalities. No matter whose house they were at, they would eat and drink as they pleased without any hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Mu Xueli said:
"I'm not eating here anymore. I'm leaving with my dad in a bit."
Wang Li also said:
"I haven't even been home since I got back, I need to go home too." (End of Chapter)