Upon hearing Wang An say this, Li Ziqian appeared very pleased.
Muttering to himself, he said
"One pig stomach could last a month, no problem. Getting a couple more should be about right."
Turning around, Li Ziqian said to Xiao Jing with a face full of joy
"Xiao Jing, there's hope for your Grandpa Qiu's illness now, hahahaha..."
Hearing this, Wang An lightly asked the question he cared about most
"Old gentleman, how much can you give for one pig stomach?"
Although the words Li Ziqian spoke were pleasant to hear—making it seem as if Wang An and his two companions would make a fortune the moment he sold the items—no matter how well someone spoke, the most substantial issue was always the price.
Li Ziqian thought for a moment and said
"If it's as you say, that this wild boar weighed seven or eight hundred catties when it was alive and the stomach is densely covered in nodules, then based on the size, a normal stomach would be worth 80 to 100 yuan. I won't even look at the size of this one; how about I give you 200 yuan?"
Wang An was just about to nod in agreement. After all, this price was truly inflated for a single pig stomach; if the supply and marketing cooperative bought it, it would be worth 30 yuan at most.
Then he heard Li Ziqian continue
"To be honest, we are in urgent need of this stomach; otherwise, I absolutely could not give you this price."
Wang An nodded with a smile and said
"Mm-hmm, we deal with wild boars all year round, so this price is indeed acceptable. By the way, old gentleman, we have quite a few more pig stomachs, though they don't have as many nodules as that one. Do you have any interest in buying them?"
Other things might be hard to hunt or obtain, but wild boars in the great mountains were simply endless things that could be hunted and exterminated without cease. If pig stomachs could sell for more money, it would be a genuinely good thing.
Li Ziqian smiled and shook his head
"Little brother, we aren't lacking in pig stomachs themselves. Stomachs with a few nodules actually have the same medicinal value as ordinary ones. Normally, we don't buy them; we can just buy them ready-made at the vegetable market."
Although Li Ziqian didn't say it explicitly, his refusal to buy was very clear, so Wang An simply nodded with a smile and did not press the matter further.
After a while, Li Ziqian finally asked the question he cared about most
"Little brother, after all this talk, when can you bring the items to Anguo?"
Wang An calculated the time and said
"It's less than 20 days until the New Year. It'll have to be after the holiday."
Upon hearing Wang An's answer, Li Ziqian's brow instantly furrowed, and he became restless. He tentatively asked Wang An
"If it's convenient, how about I send someone back with you to pick them up?"
Wang An wanted to sell his things, but he didn't want the other party to know where his home was, mainly because his family had far too many good things.
However, on second thought, the fact that his family had money had already spread throughout Xing'an Township; there seemed to be no point in hiding it anymore.
Thus, Wang An smiled and said
"That would be most welcome. It saves me from making another trip, hehehehe..."
After discussing some detailed matters and agreeing that Li Ziqian's arranged personnel would come with the three of them when they left, Wang An copied down the price list. Only then did the three of them bid farewell and leave the Li Family Pharmacy.
After leaving the pharmacy, Mu Xueli asked Wang An with excitement
"Brother-in-law, now that we hunt Asiatic black bears in the future, the bear gallbladders can really be sold for a lot more money."
Wang An nodded without speaking, but Wang Li bragged to Mu Xueli
"You can't beat me this time. My fourth brother and I also got a piece of bezoar and a pig stone, hehehehe..."
Although Mu Xueli was envious, she wasn't jealous. She said somewhat unconvinced
"You're just riding on my brother-in-law's coattails. If I lived in Kaoshan Village, those bezoars and pig stones would definitely have a share for me."
Unexpectedly, Wang Li said
"Then what are you thinking about? Just move to our Kaoshan Village. Anyway, your family doesn't have any relatives in Sujia Village; what's so good about staying there?"
At this time, moving from one village to another was quite normal, provided that all the paperwork was handled correctly; otherwise, the farmland would be a major problem.
As long as the village chief of the receiving area gave permission and signed off, and the household registration was transferred, that household would be allocated farmland when the land was distributed.
Mu Xueli was clearly tempted upon hearing this, but she said with a face full of conflict
"My family just built a new house this year, and it cost several thousand yuan. If we move to Kaoshan Village, where would my family live?"
Wang Li, with an attitude of someone who didn't have to deal with the hardship, said
"Just sell it. Your house is new, so it'll definitely be easy to sell. Then build another house in our Kaoshan Village; it'll be finished in two or three months."
Wang An grasped the core of the issue and said to Wang Li
"You make it sound so easy. Those houses your two families have cost over four thousand yuan, right? These days, do you think there are many families in all of Sujia Village who can produce 4,000 yuan? Every single day you come up with something new."
Because Mu Xueli's and Wang Li's family courtyards only had five large tiled rooms, no livestock pens, and the courtyard walls weren't built with brick, each house only cost around 4,000 yuan.
But 4,000 yuan was not an amount that rural people of this era could just produce casually.
In fact, before Mu Xueli's family built the house, Wang An had mentioned this issue to his father-in-law's family. However, Mu Hua and his wife stated bluntly that going to their daughter's place would only cause trouble for her family, so they firmly refused to move and built the house in Sujia Village instead.
After Wang An spoke, he effectively shut down everything Wang Li had to say, leaving only Mu Xueli still pondering the feasibility of the idea.
However, Wang An knew that it was useless for Mu Xueli to think about it, because Mu Hua and his wife would absolutely never agree to move.
The three of them walked in silence for a while until Wang Li suddenly asked
"Fourth Brother, are we going to Han Xiaomin's now?"
Wang An shook his head
"We'll go there in a bit. Let's go ask at other pharmacies first. We can't just take whatever Li Ziqian says as gospel."
Wang Li was momentarily confused and instinctively asked
"Fourth Brother, didn't we have a great conversation with that old man just now?"
Wang An gave Wang Li a sidelong glance
"In business, what use is 'talking great'? Can 'talking great' be spent like money? If someone offers a higher price than him, do you think I'll even spare him a glance?"
Wang Li scratched his head and blinked rapidly, clearly not understanding why Wang An would say one thing and do another.
Although Wang An knew what Wang Li was thinking, he didn't explain anything.
Mainly, it was the same for everything; the more one saw, the more one naturally understood the logic behind it.
Furthermore, in Wang An's heart, businessmen and loan sharks were all the same—none of them were good people, and they were all full of filth.
(End of Chapter)