Chapter 27: The Old Fox Meets the Young Fox, A Profit of One Hundred and Thirty-Three Yuan

Su Yu and Huzi had been close since childhood, so there was no need for formalities. Su Yu drew a basin of cold water, washed his face, and then instructed his fourth younger brother to look after their little sister.

Their parents had left food in the pot before heading to work, and the little sister had already eaten with them. However, he and his fourth brother were both hungry; they were used to eating whenever they felt the urge after waking up. Su Yu usually skipped breakfast, and today was no exception; he hurriedly went with Huzi to tend to their game.

They brought out the goat skin, the head, and the entire carcass of a mountain goat. Su Yu took his axe and chopped off the goat's neck.

"Brother Yu, why are you chopping off the neck?"

"Oh, I promised my little sister I’d stew some goat meat for her. The girl has been craving it for a long time. With the meat and bones, this neck weighs a good three pounds. If they don't want the goat head, we’ll bring it back to boil. They might not accept it, but we can’t afford not to bring it—otherwise, how would they know what kind of meat it is?"

The two of them put the meat, skin, and head into a woven fertilizer bag. Huzi then brought over his bicycle and lashed the bag to the front handlebars. They also threw in two rabbits, five ducks, one swan, and one pheasant before setting off.

"Get on. I’ll ride. The bike is too heavy for you to pedal with me on it, so I’ll take you."

Su Yu’s physique had reached a peak state, and he was full of raw power. Huzi sat on the back, cushioned by the rabbit and badger skins they had saved from last time. Su Yu gave a powerful push, and the two embarked on their journey to the county seat. This load was nothing to Su Yu; even without breakfast, he didn't feel a hint of fatigue.

"We’re here—the State-Run Restaurant. That name really is as plain as it gets."

Su Yu walked in. It was the same waiter as before. Prepared this time, Su Yu reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of Da Qianmen cigarettes, and offered one immediately.

"Brother Li, thank you for your hard work. We’ve come to bring you some game again. Is Manager Fan in?"

Having accepted the cigarette, the waiter was much warmer after Su Yu personally lit it for him. "Hmm, he should be in the back kitchen. Let me see if Master Liu is around. Wait here for a moment."

As soon as the waiter left, Huzi struggled to bring the heavy sack inside. It wasn't that Su Yu was intentionally making Huzi do the heavy lifting, but this was a restaurant; he needed to ask first. If he just walked in with the smell of blood, getting kicked out would be perfectly reasonable. After all, if there were important guests, a bloody, smelly sack would be quite frightening—and the smell was less than pleasant.

***

Now that they knew Manager Fan was present and the restaurant was quiet, Su Yu signaled Huzi to bring the bag in. Su Yu didn't go over to help; the total weight was less than a hundred pounds, which was nothing for Huzi.

"Little Brother Su, you’re back? What kind of game did you bring me this time?"

Manager Fan walked over with a measured, steady gait, followed by Chef Liu.

"Haha, Brother Fan, this time I’ve brought you a mountain goat and a swan weighing over five pounds. Both are rare delicacies. If it weren't for the fair prices you offer, I wouldn't have traveled all this way just to bring them to you."

Upon hearing about the wild mountain goat, Manager Fan became interested. Su Yu didn't hesitate; he signaled Huzi to spread the other sack on the floor and carefully laid out the catch—the head, the skin, and the skinned carcass. On the side lay the five wild ducks, the swan, two wild rabbits, and a pheasant.

It was quite a sight, filling a large portion of the floor and leaving Manager Fan stunned.

"I recall you only left yesterday, right? Don't tell me you hunted all of this just yesterday afternoon?"

"Hehe, Brother Fan, look closely here." Su Yu rubbed a spot on the goat's head, and a bead of fresh blood appeared on his fingertip. "Brother Fan, you're an expert; I don't need to explain, do I?"

Sometimes, words are useless; people only believe what they discover themselves. Su Yu’s gesture effectively put Manager Fan on a pedestal—implying that as an expert, he should know exactly when the animal died just by looking at the blood. It was a bit of a trick, but it worked.

"Hahaha, you’re quite something! To think you went into the mountains that very afternoon and had such a haul?"

Even so, Manager Fan had Chef Liu inspect everything one by one. Being a manager, he wasn't a fool; he wouldn't be swayed by flattery alone. He preferred to leave professional matters to the professionals.

"Manager, no problems here. These were slaughtered last night. Very fresh."

Master Liu didn't need to check much; he could tell just by the color of the meat. But he went through the motions of a careful inspection anyway—the manager’s decisions were never wrong, so it was best to just follow orders rather than ignore the boss's instructions based on one's own experience.

Manager Fan was satisfied. "Good. Bring the scale from the back kitchen."

It turned out they hadn't bothered with the scale last time because the quantity was too small to be worth the effort.

***

After removing the innards, the mountain goat shrank significantly, weighing in at sixty-five pounds instead of the eighty Su Yu had estimated.

As for the wild ducks, Manager Fan didn't even bother weighing them, simply pricing them by size—some at two yuan, others at three. The swan was priced at twenty yuan immediately. These were rare; even when swans migrated, few hunters could bag one, and even if they did, it wouldn't necessarily be fresh by the time it arrived. As Su Yu had pointed out, if the price wasn't right, why travel all the way to the county seat when they could just sell it to the local commune?

The ducks, pheasant, and swan sold for thirty-five yuan total. The mountain goat meat went for 1.5 yuan per pound—significantly more than pork, which was seventy-five cents, or eighty cents for fatty cuts. Wild boar meat was actually cheaper than regular pork, but mountain goat was a rare delicacy that lacked the pungent odor of wild boar. More importantly, it was considered health-giving, and many older officials had a particular fondness for it.

The goat meat fetched ninety-seven yuan and fifty cents, but Manager Fan rounded it up to ninety-eight yuan. With the thirty-five yuan added, the total came to 133 yuan.

Getting 133 yuan in one go didn't mean he was suddenly wealthy, but at the very least, he wouldn't have to eat bran and wild vegetable porridge when he got home.

"Little Brother Su, is there any way you could get me a soft-shelled turtle? I’ll pay a high price for one."

Other state-run restaurants paid market rates, or perhaps a tiny bit more just to secure the meat. But Manager Fan was different. From the first time they met, Su Yu felt that there was something different about him. He was slick and worldly; despite being a manager, he was willing to call a "mud-legged" peasant like Su Yu "brother."

Did he really respect him that much? Don't be naive. It was just a sign of his ambition and social adroitness.

Adding the request for a turtle, Su Yu immediately understood: this was for a superior who was likely in poor health. It was a gesture of care and loyalty, and the money for the purchase would likely come out of the manager's own pocket.

"A soft-shelled turtle, that’s not easy to come by, especially a large, old wild one. While it’s a potent tonic, in the eyes of someone who knows its value, it’s worth its weight in gold. But if you just sell it as common meat, it’s not worth the trouble. There is a pond in our village that might have one, but it’s hard to catch."

"Catching them requires diving. You know how it is—it’s just a matter of whether it’s worth the risk. I’ll give it to you straight: what price are you offering? If it’s worth the risk, I’ll go hunt one down for you myself. If you’re short on funds, Brother Fan, then I’ll just have to leave it to fate."

The message was clear. Manager Fan, an old hand at this, understood perfectly: if the price wasn't right, he’d "try" to find one; if the price was right, he would find one even if he had to move mountains.