Chapter 1318
A Remarkably Profitable Business
The day after they arrived home, Wang An, Mu Xueli, and Wang Li split up and began their work, while Feng Chengmin started his work as soon as he returned home the day before.
As for what these four people did, they simply went to buy bear bile and bezoar from gunners and hunters they had heard of or met.
There's no other way. Just like Feng Chengmin said, these days before the Lunar New Year are when all the mountain hunters are busy selling their goods. If they don't make money this time, they'll have to wait until next spring to plant crops.
For farmers, besides the significant expenses during the Lunar New Year, the biggest expense is spring planting.
Seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, farming tools—everything costs money.
For farmland that is far from rivers or water sources, there are also things to buy, such as diesel pumps for irrigation, diesel fuel, water pipes, and so on. In short, there are many places where money needs to be spent.
I must say, the four of them splitting up and working separately was quite effective.
The four men covered almost all of the dozen or so brigades in Xing'an Township in just four days.
After finishing their run through Xing'an Township, the group didn't linger and began to move westward to Xingsheng Township and southeastward to Shiqiaobao.
As expected, many hunters have already sold their bear gallbladders in the past few days. After hearing the prices offered by Wang An and his group, the hunters who had already sold their bear gallbladders were filled with regret, while those who hadn't yet sold theirs were overjoyed.
The price offered by Wang An and his three companions wasn't high; regardless of the type of bear bile, it was only one yuan per gram higher than the prices offered by the supply and marketing cooperative and the medicinal herb purchasing station.
Wang An and his group did not categorize bear bile powder into five colors; instead, they categorized it into gold bile, iron bile, and grass bile, just like the supply and marketing cooperatives did.
Furthermore, Wang An decided to ignore the matter of the gallbladder and, like the supply and marketing cooperative, weigh everything along with the gallbladder.
In any case, the weight and price of the gallbladder are not much more expensive compared to the huge difference in the price of the gallbladder powder, and it can also avoid unnecessary complications.
Thus, the increase of one yuan per unit price directly determined the fate of bear bile, and the vast majority of hunters sold the bear bile they had already dried to Wang An and his group of four.
There's no way around it; although the extra dollar per unit price may not seem like much, it's not a small amount compared to the total weight of bear bile.
For example, the most common grass galls, if they are light, can sell for 50 or 60 yuan more, while if they are heavier, they may sell for 100 or 200 yuan more.
In this day and age, let alone fifty or sixty or even one or two hundred, even an extra ten or eight yuan is a large sum for the vast majority of people.
The most practical question is: how much can a full-time employee earn in a month?
And so, another five days passed in the blink of an eye. The brigades and villages around Xing'an Township, as well as the old mountain dogs that everyone knew about, had basically all run away.
Although many hunters had already sold their bear gallbladders during this period, the total number of bear gallbladders that Wang An and his three companions received in those nine days was still quite considerable.
There are a total of 76 bear bile capsules, with each bile capsule weighing an average of about 92 grams. The net weight of the bile powder is about 87 grams.
Of the bear bile, 15 were golden yellow, 10 were brownish yellow, 11 were dark brown, 14 were dark green, and the remaining 26 were all grass bile. Overall, the proportion of golden, iron, and grass bile was roughly one-third each.
Compared to black bear bile, brown bear bile is much less abundant, with only 28 pieces collected in total.
Of course, this is normal, because there are far fewer brown bears than black bears in these mountains.
However, if you go further north, especially towards the Rakshasa region, there are more brown bears.
These 28 bear bile capsules, each with the bile skin, weigh an average of about 215 grams, while the weight of the purified bile powder is approximately 205 grams.
It is worth noting that among these 104 bear bile, 28 were from black bears and 9 were from brown bears, all of which were collected by Feng Chengmin.
Among them, there are 5 bear bile powders with golden yellow color, 4 with brownish yellow color, 6 with dark brown color, 4 with dark green color, and the remaining 9 bear bile powders are all grass bile. The proportion of golden bile, iron bile, and grass bile is basically one-third each.
Because Feng Chengmin sold all the bear bile he collected directly to Wang An, he made a considerable amount of money during those nine days, earning a total of over 16400 yuan. After deducting the 9% profit that Wang An and the other two had to keep, Feng Chengmin earned a full 13000 yuan.
Of course, the same applies when Wang An and his two companions acquired Feng Chengmin's goods.
If they waited until they sold it in Yi Province, the premium for black bear bile would be around 3500 yuan, and the premium for brown bear bile would be around 1700 yuan. Adding the agreed-upon profit of around 3200 yuan, Wang An and the other two would have made around 8400 yuan from Feng Chengmin.
However, this sum of over 8400 was divided among Wang An and the other two, and the three of them also had to bear the various risks that might arise along the way.
Wang An and his two companions made a lot more money from the goods they collected themselves.
Putting everything else aside, the money these three people spent alone amounted to 100,000 yuan and a little more. Proportionally, the bear bile that Wang An and the other two personally collected could earn them a net profit of about 65,000 yuan.
It has to be said that this was an extremely profitable deal, especially considering that it was completed in just nine days.
In addition, Wang An also received two musk deer sachets, spending 12,000 yuan, which was nearly 1,000 yuan more than the normal price for these things when bought privately.
Fortunately, Li Ji Pharmacy's purchase price is at least 8000 yuan per sachet, so this deal is still very worthwhile.
The only regret is that I didn't receive bezoar and pig gallstones, mainly because these two things are extremely rare.
After carefully sorting and placing all the bear bile and sachets, Wang An said to Mu Xueli, Wang Li, and Feng Chengmin:
"We'll continue this business until the end of the year. If anyone comes to sell after the new year, we'll continue to buy. We've already notified all the hunters in this area."
Having made most of the quick money before the New Year, Wang An no longer wanted to continue his business. He even gave up on hunting in the mountains. Once he sold the vegetables in the greenhouse, he would focus on preparing for the New Year.
There's no way around it; the world is vast, but the Lunar New Year is the most important holiday, and you can never earn enough money. (End of Chapter)