Chapter 23: Making a Fortune

  After dinner, Chu Jiaqiang made another call to the Changchun Pharmacy. In order to let his uncle have a good night's sleep, Chu Jiaqiang spoke hands-free.

  The other party heard that there were six or seven hundred catties, and was startled. He immediately indicated that he would send someone to collect the goods early tomorrow morning. Chu Jiaqiang asked the other party to come to Xinjie Town in Heqian, and he would transport the cicada shells to the town himself. The other party naturally had no objection, who wouldn't want to save some effort?

  "By his lowest price calculation, we have at least a profit of four thousand." Second Aunt counted with her fingers and was also shocked, this money was earned too quickly.

  After a while, Chu Jiaqiang returned to the old house to sleep, followed by Chu Jiawan and a curious baby: Little Jin. Little Jin was that golden hamster, named by Chu Jiawan, although it was a bit common, but still appropriate.

  Taking advantage of Chu Jia Wan's inattention, Chu Jia Qiang took out a large peach from the Shanhe Map. Xiao Jin's eyes lit up instantly and stared tightly at the peach, its two front paws grasping at Chu Jia Qiang's pant legs as if begging him for the peach. Chu Jia Qiang placed the peach in a dark corner, then watched as Xiao Jin ate.

  Although it is said that bamboo rats love to eat bamboo, they don't only eat bamboo. Especially this kind of peach with a hint of spiritual energy, I believe even animals that don't normally eat fruit would love to eat it.

  "Haha! You little thing is quite good at eating." Chu Jiaqiang couldn't help but laugh, seeing Xiao Jin use its two front paws to peel open the peach fuzz before taking a "crunch" and biting into it.

  It ate more than half, its belly was round, looking at the remaining peaches, Xiaojin made a move that stunned Chu Jiaqiang. It stood up, holding the remaining one-third of the peach with its front paws, wanting to take it away.

  Half a moment later, Chu Jiaqiang finally spoke up: "Find yourself a place to stay! But don't dig at the foundation of the wall, or I won't let you off!"

  The villagers resent the mice in two ways. First, they waste food, and second, they dig at the foot of the wall. It is essential to know that the foundation is the most critical part of a house. If it is hollowed out, it is very dangerous.

  The next day, Chu Jiaqiang still followed the old routine, practicing his body first and then meditating in the Shanhe Map for half a day. After finishing these, he found that Chu Jiawen was still sleeping soundly, and Xiao Jin's bamboo mouse was nowhere to be seen.

  Second Uncle got up early too, he had breakfast and then went to Old Village Chief's house, asking Chu Shengyi for help to pull the cicada shells to town. Chu Jiaqiang helped load the truck and followed together to town.

  Arriving in town, it was almost nine o'clock. After waiting for a while, the people from Changchun Pharmacy arrived. Chu Jiaqiang asked them to come to the street corner. The other party came with a small truck, two people, one driver and another wearing a suit who was the real boss.

  "Hello! Are you Mr. Chu?" The man stretched out his hand.

  As soon as this was said, Chu Jiaqiang and the other two people all laughed. They were all surnamed Chu, and this opening remark made them laugh and cry at the same time.

  "Haha! It was me who called you. Let me introduce, we all have the surname Chu. I'm Chu Jiaqiang, this is my second uncle Chu Shengmin, who will also be dealing with you this time, and this one is also an uncle from my village, Chu Shengyi." Chu Jiaqiang shook hands with the middle-aged man.

  "Oh! So that's how it is!" The man smiled wryly, finally understanding why the other person was laughing. "Hello! I'm Jiang Tao, the prescription manager of Changchun Daryoo Pharmacy. Let's take a look at the goods first!"

  Jiang Tao shook hands with Second Uncle and Chu Shengyi again, then got straight to the point and looked at the goods.

  Second Uncle immediately climbed onto the tractor, and brought down bag after bag of cicada shells. Chu Shengyi helped receive them from below, while Chu Jiaqiang assisted in opening the bags.

  Jiang Tao first looked into the bag, then inserted a hand and scooped some out. Firstly, to see the situation below, whether it's full or not; secondly, to feel the texture of the cicada shells, which is also very important, can distinguish whether the cicada shells have gone bad; thirdly, to feel the humidity.

  "After checking several bags, I found that the quality is still good. I nodded and said: "Hmm! The quality is not bad, although it looks new and old, but it's complete, plus you have a lot of goods. I won't lower the price either, 34 yuan per kilogram, what do you think?"

  Second Uncle was taken aback, although overjoyed, and nodded vigorously: "Good! Good! Let's go with Manager Jiang's price!"

  Chu Shengyi was shocked, all of these were bought for 25 yuan and sold for 34 yuan per catty, the price difference is almost 10 yuan. There are nearly 700 catties here, so calculating it, Chu Shengmin earned more than 60,000 yuan in just one day, terrifying! The cicada shells on the mountain can still be picked for three to five days, that's two or three hundred thousand yuan, a truly big profit.

  It turned out that the total weight was about 686 catties, similar to the previous result. Everyone helped tie up the bags and then moved them onto the truck hired by Jiang Tao.

  Jiang Tao counted the numbers and got 24,350, a whole number.

  "It was a pleasure doing business with you! If you still have goods, contact us immediately, the price remains the same." Jiang Tao shook hands with Second Uncle again. Second Uncle nodded hastily, indicating that there would be some in the next few days. Jiang Tao was taken aback, not expecting the other party to really have some, and he attached a bit more importance to it in his heart. Finally, he bid farewell to everyone and left.

  Chu Jiaqiang took a look at Chu Shengyi's expression, then said: "Uncle Shengyi, you work with my second uncle tomorrow! You're in charge of transportation. We'll split the profit 50/50."

  Chu Shengmin also reacted and opened his mouth: "Yes! You shouldn't have any goods to transport these days, right?" Chu Shengmin had no choice but to pull Chu Shengyi down, the profit in between was too great, it's hard not to make people jealous. Although he knew that Chu Shengyi wouldn't brag about it in the village, since they were seen, everyone felt awkward when they met.

  "This... is great! Thanks, Brother Shengmin." Chu Shengyi hesitated for a moment, feeling a bit guilty, like he was taking advantage of the situation. But he was indeed tempted - splitting the profits in half would earn him two to three thousand yuan per day, equivalent to the annual income of a low-to-middle-income family in Chujiazhuang.

  Second Uncle gave Chu Jiaqiang 20,000 yuan and then gave 200 yuan to Chu Shengyi for transportation costs. Chu Shengyi said he wouldn't accept anything, the other party had already given him such a big discount, if he still accepted money, he would be struck by lightning. Second Uncle didn't insist either, after instructing Chu Jiaqiang to be careful on his way out, he hitched a ride with Chu Shengyi's car and went back.

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