Chapter 353: Tiger Whip and Ginseng

Zhou Dazhong managed to purchase quite a few things here, leaving him thoroughly satisfied. As expected, if you want to buy in bulk, you have to go to places that haven’t been “developed” yet.

“Next time, I’ll come by about every half month. If you want to exchange anything, prepare your goods in advance.”

The villagers around nodded when they heard this.

After speaking, Zhou Dazhong strapped everything to the back of his bicycle. Fragile items like eggs were placed separately, because with such a bumpy ride, they would all be broken before even getting back to the factory—then it wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

These things had to be submitted. If the quantities didn’t match, it would be a problem for him.

After Zhou Dazhong left, Li Ming asked, “Village Chief, now that we have a procurement officer coming to our village, if we go hunting in the mountains, can we exchange what we catch for goods?”

After a year of hard work, they were still struggling to meet basic needs. There was no other income, and not much grain left in the village. It likely wouldn’t last much longer.

If it weren’t for the decent harvests in the past few years and a bit of surplus grain, they probably wouldn’t have made it this far.

The village chief was also deep in thought. Clearly, the village needed to make some changes. If they ran out of food, that would be real trouble.

“Alright! But if you go into the mountains to hunt, be sure to stay safe.”

Even though many animals hibernate in winter, better safe than sorry.

“Got it!”

After two hours of riding, Zhou Dazhong finally returned to the steel factory. By the time he arrived, it was already afternoon, nearly the end of the workday.

His legs felt like they were going to give out. He was completely exhausted, running on willpower alone.

The security team saw the travel-worn Zhou Dazhong and the goods on the back of his bike. One look was enough—they didn’t stop him and let him through immediately.

Once he got back, he rushed to find Zhou Yimin with the tiger whip.

Even though he was anxious, Zhou Dazhong still knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Seeing how flustered Zhou Dazhong looked, Zhou Yimin asked, “Dazhong, is something wrong?”

“Something good, Uncle Sixteen.”

With that, he pulled out the tiger whip.

Zhou Yimin glanced at the item in front of him. It looked like a whip, though he wasn’t sure what animal it came from. But seeing how excited Zhou Dazhong was, it was likely something rare. “Is that a tiger whip?”

He had just casually guessed.

“Uncle Sixteen, you’re amazing—you guessed it in one go! I didn’t even know what it was at first, not until someone told me!” Zhou Dazhong quickly praised him.

“Do you know how much I paid for it?”

Seeing how pleased Zhou Dazhong looked, Zhou Yimin figured he must have gotten it at a bargain. “I don’t want to guess, just tell me.”

“Twenty yuan and thirty catties of grain coupons.” Zhou Dazhong announced the price without hesitation.

Hearing that, Zhou Yimin nodded—it really was a good deal. “Not bad. So why are you bringing it to me instead of submitting it?”

“Well, I was waiting for you to make the call, Uncle Sixteen.”

As soon as he said that, he stared eagerly at Zhou Yimin.

The look gave Zhou Yimin goosebumps. “Don’t look at me like that. Alright, how about this—I’ll give you fifty yuan and fifty catties of grain coupons. I’ll buy the tiger whip from you.”

This kind of thing would only become more valuable over time. Once tigers were classified as protected animals and hunting was banned, the price would skyrocket.

It was a guaranteed profit.

Zhou Dazhong didn’t want to take that much from Zhou Yimin. “Uncle Sixteen, just give me twenty yuan and thirty catties. That’s enough to settle my accounts.”

“We’re doing it my way. If I turned around and resold it, I’d get more than that. I can’t let you work for nothing.”

Since Zhou Yimin insisted, Zhou Dazhong didn’t argue further.

Zhou Yimin readily pulled out a stack of tickets from his drawer, peeled off some, and handed them along with fifty yuan to Zhou Dazhong.

“The chickens in the village can be released from the coop. When you go back, collect them.”

The old Party secretary had told him around New Year that this was a good opportunity to give to Zhou Dazhong. With this, no one would surpass him this month.

“Alright!”

Zhou Dazhong agreed immediately.

“But don’t bring all of them to the steel factory—send 250 to the steel factory, 150 to the instant noodle plant, 30 to the research institute, and another 30 to the subdistrict office.”

Zhou Yimin had already planned the chicken distribution.

Zhou Dazhong had no objections to this arrangement.

“And also, go find Dafu and ask Captain Li to help with the truck.”

Zhou Yimin added that reminder, worried that Zhou Dazhong might try hauling them all by bicycle—it would take forever.

“Got it.”

Soon, Zhou Dazhong registered the rest of the goods into the inventory.

The others were envious when they saw how much he had brought back.

“He definitely had help from Team Leader Zhou. Otherwise, how could he find such channels on one trip to the countryside?”

“Exactly. It’s so hard to source materials right now. I haven’t met my quota for a whole month.”

If only they had someone like that backing them, they wouldn’t have to worry about meeting their targets.

Some people are just bitter—they can’t see others’ efforts, only their gains. That kind of person is the same in any era.

Zhou Yimin glanced at the time, then headed out for a walk. When he returned, he had several gift boxes in hand.

These were specially bought from the store to hold ginseng. Wrapping it in cloth alone would make it look cheap.

He soon arrived at Section Chief Yang’s office, knocked, and walked in.

Seeing Zhou Yimin, Yang asked anxiously, “Yimin, how did it go?”

He was worried that even Zhou Yimin wouldn’t be able to pull it off—then he’d be out of options.

“Mission accomplished. I got two roots of ginseng.”

As he spoke, he took them out. Though Yang had said one would be enough, Zhou Yimin still brought two—he had quite a few, after all.

Yang hurried over, took the box carefully, opened it, and saw the two ginseng roots lying quietly inside.

He didn’t know much about ginseng, but he trusted Zhou Yimin. If Zhou brought it, it had to be good.

“Yimin, I really owe you this time. If you ever need anything, just say the word. As long as it’s within my power, I won’t hesitate.”

Helping his superior through this rough patch meant he could rely on him in the future. With the medicinal dishes as a bridge, climbing higher wasn’t out of the question.

“Alright, just don’t get annoyed with me when I come knocking later!” Zhou Yimin replied.

“Don’t call me Section Chief Yang—that’s too formal. Just call me Brother Yang if you don’t mind.”

He wanted to draw closer to Zhou Yimin. After all, people who could source materials these days were rare.

“Sure, Brother Yang.”

Zhou Yimin didn’t mind. Building a better relationship with Yang was a good thing. Even though he was just a section chief, he had a lot of authority—if he got upset, he could even make life difficult for the factory director.

(End of Chapter)