sbdcsierra Chapter 1749 The Magical Leopard-Skin Blanket (Bonus Chapter 315 by Alliance Leader Wanglouxi)
Chapter 1749 The Magical Leopard-Skin Blanket (Bonus Chapter 315 by Alliance Leader Wanglouxi)
Chapter 1749 The Magical Leopard-Skin Blanket (Bonus Chapter 315 by Alliance Leader Wanglouxi)
When Zhang Yuanmin mentioned the phrase "passed down from generation to generation," Zhao Jun didn't immediately recognize what it meant. He had heard of BackJoy in his previous life, but it wasn't available these days.
"That leopard-skin quilt," Zhang Yuanmin added before Zhao Jun entered the room. Zhao Jun blinked, suspecting that Boss Wen might be there to settle old scores.
But as soon as Zhao Jun entered the room, he saw Wen Hongchang get up and greet him warmly, saying, "Zhao Jun, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Come on, I'll arrange for you to go to a restaurant and have something good to eat."
“Well…” Zhao Jun hesitated for a moment, then smiled at Wen Hongchang and said, “Uncle Wen, I can’t always let you treat me. How about this today, you choose the place, and I’ll make the arrangements.”
"No, no." Wen Hongchang waved his hands repeatedly and said, "We're in Hebei now, how can I let you treat me? Come on, just come with me."
"Alright then." Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Then Uncle Wen has gone to so much trouble again."
"What's the big deal?" Wen Hongchang said with a smile, "I'll have to thank you later."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, wondering what he meant by that.
The group looked outside and saw Jie Chen carrying a large sack. Zhao Jun knew that it contained the money from selling leather.
This trip to Hebei yielded neither golden bear bile nor white bear hide. Therefore, the profits were meager; the total revenue from bear hides and bile was only slightly over 200,000 yuan.
Even so, such a large sum of money must be kept safe.
Without Zhao Jun saying anything, Zhang Yuanmin moved closer to Zhao Jun, gestured for Zhao Jun to lower his head, and then whispered in Zhao Jun's ear, "Brother, you guys go eat, and take me and Uncle San back to the guesthouse."
Zhao Jun immediately knew that Zhang Yuanmin wanted to stay behind with Xing San to watch over the money.
Zhao Jun thought for a moment, then caught up with Wen Hongchang, who was about to get into the car, and said, "Uncle Wen, let's not go too far. There's a restaurant right across from the guesthouse where we're staying. Let's just grab a bite there."
“Okay.” Wen Hongchang smiled and said, “Then get in the car. The extra people can get in my car.”
Zhao Weipeng, who was on a business trip, drove the Jeep away, and Zhao Jun and the others got into Wen Hongchang's Jeep.
Jie Chen drove a Jiefang truck, carrying Xing San, Zhang Yuanmin, and a sack of money, following behind.
The jeep was parked in front of the restaurant, and the Jiefang truck was parked in front of the guesthouse. Zhao Jun got out of the jeep and came over to Xing San, saying, "Uncle San, come up to my brother Zhang's room and rest for a while. I'll have Xiao Chen bring you some food and dishes later."
"No need," Xing San said, holding a long burlap sack wrapped around a semi-automatic machine. "You guys eat your food, we just need some dry rations."
"Others," Zhao Jun quickly stopped Xing San and instructed, "You two wait for me. It's my treat today. I'll order two dishes for you separately afterwards."
Hearing Zhao Jun's words, Xing San nodded and stepped into the guesthouse. Xie Chen carried a sack, and Zhang Yuanmin followed him in, carrying the money for buying bear bile.
Zhao Jun watched them enter the guesthouse before turning around to meet up with Wen Hongchang and the others.
After they met up, the group went into the restaurant and ordered food in a private room. After ordering, and after the waiter left, Wen Hongchang said to Zhao Jun impatiently, "Zhao Jun, it's really good that you sold me that fortune and wealth for life."
"Ah? Hehe..." Zhao Jun chuckled and said, "How's it all done, Uncle Wen?"
"I slept soundly under that blanket, without a single dream all night," Wen Hongchang said, his face beaming. But Zhao Jun couldn't help but think it was all in his head.
At this moment, Wen Hongchang said to Zhao Jun, "Zhao Jun, Uncle Wen wants to discuss with you about selling me another one of your quilts."
“My family…” Zhao Jun was taken aback, then realized what he meant and laughed, “Uncle Wen, my family doesn’t have that anymore.”
"How could that be?" Wen Hongchang seemed not to believe Zhao Jun's words, saying, "Such good things, you wouldn't keep them for your own family."
"I..." Zhao Jun was speechless, then Zhao Jinhui spoke up and asked Wen Hongchang, "Uncle Wen, besides being good for sleeping, what else is good about that little quilt?"
"It's nothing..." Wen Hongchang had just started to speak when his son, Wen Ming, said from the side, "Fatty, look at the question you're asking. It's about making money, what else could it be about?"
Wen Hongchang: "..."
Zhao Jun and the others all looked at Wen Hongchang, who gave an awkward smile and then glared at Wen Ming.
Zhao Jinhui was honest and kind, but he wasn't stupid. Seeing that his old classmate had let something slip, he said to Wen Hongchang, "Uncle Wen, before I started school, your son Wenming and I were the closest of friends. Also, that little blanket was given to you by my dad last time; if you keep hiding it, you're not being fair."
"Oh dear..." Wen Hongchang was even more embarrassed after Zhao Jinhui said that. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Jinhui, that's not what I meant, hehehe..."
"Brother Wen," Wang Qiang said to Wen Hongchang, "what's going on? Tell us. If we have those little blankets, we'll sell them to you."
Hearing Wang Qiang's words, Wen Hongchang was tempted. He looked at Zhao Jun and said, "That day in Xinji, didn't I borrow money from a friend? After I saw you off, I arranged for them to have a meal."
After dinner, my son and I didn't go home, and we didn't use that small blanket that day. The next day, after I went to Changshan to collect your hides, I went home and used it for the night.
At this point, Wen Hongchang paused, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone present, before continuing, "Originally, I had arranged with someone to sell all the hides we collected before the New Year the next day."
Well, I don't know what happened that day, but both of my big trucks that I used for delivering goods broke down.
Upon hearing Hongchang's words, Zhao Jun and the others exchanged bewildered glances, sensing that there might be supernatural elements involved.
Sure enough, Wen Hongchang said, "One of the trucks picked up your goods the day before. It ran without any problems going back and forth, but for some reason, both trucks stopped working that day. I was really worried."
After Wen Hongchang finished speaking, the private room fell silent, everyone waiting for him to continue.
At this moment, Wen Hongchang took a sip of water, then looked at Zhao Jun and the others and said, "Guess what happened the next day?"
"The car itself is fine, right?" Zhao Jinhui asked. Wen Hongchang shook his head and laughed, "Around six o'clock the next day, my friend called me and asked if I had sold the weasel pelt. I said no, and he said if I hadn't sold it, I had made a profit."
At this point, Wen Hongchang held up one finger and said, "The price of a male weasel pelt will increase by 1.5 yuan, and the price of a female pelt will increase by 1 yuan. I have a total of 80,000 weasel pelts. So tell me how much more money I'll make?"
"Oh my god!" Zhao Jinhui exclaimed in surprise, his eyes widening before turning to Zhao Jun.
In front of outsiders, Zhao Jinhui didn't say anything, but Zhao Jun knew that Zhao Jinhui was asking, "What about the money and wealth you promised my father for the rest of his life?"
At this point, Wen Hongchang added, "As soon as I heard about the price increase, I wasn't in a hurry anymore. That night, I slept under that small blanket again, and then I had a dream."
After saying this, Wen Hongchang glanced at Zhao Jun and the others and asked, "Guess what I dreamed about?"
Zhao Jun remained silent, but Wang Qiang, Zhao Jinhui, and Wen Ming asked in unison, "What did you dream about?"
"Huh?" Immediately afterwards, Zhao Jun and the others all turned to look at Wen Ming, and Zhao Jinhui even asked him with a smile, "What? My Uncle Wen didn't even tell you?"
Wen Ming shook his head, then looked at his father expectantly.
At this moment, Wen Hongchang regretted it. He should have told his son. If he had told Wen Ming earlier, Wen Ming might have been able to cooperate with him.
Thinking of this, Wen Hongchang said with a wry smile, "I even dreamed that squirrel pelts had gone up in price."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun asked in surprise, "And then it went up?"
"Hmm!" Wen Hongchang nodded heavily and said, "I woke up and just finished breakfast when my friend called me and told me that a squirrel pelt had gone up by 80 cents."
After saying this, Wen Hongchang excitedly raised his hand and gestured, saying, "From August last year to after the New Year, I pressed more than 150,000 squirrel skins."
Upon hearing Hongchang's words, Wang Qiang, Zhao Jinhui, and Wen Ming were all extremely shocked.
Wen Hongchang's words clearly attributed the rise in the price of furs, as well as his dream, to the leopard-skin quilt.
Zhao Jinhui believed in this belief, and after hearing Wen Hongchang's words, he felt extremely regretful. He should have accepted the leopard-skin quilt much earlier.
Wen Ming looked at his father in surprise. He knew about the price increase of leather, but he didn't know that Wen Hongchang had such a dream.
At this moment, Wenming felt regret, regretting that he had spoken too quickly.
Wang Qiang also regrets it; he didn't believe in these things before, but now he does.
Of the five people present, only Zhao Jun remained skeptical.
Zhao Jun knew that rising prices for animal hides were normal. Even back in 1995, when wildlife resources weren't as abundant, a single yellow leaf could fetch over 140 yuan, and a grey hide nearly 200 yuan.
"Zhao Jun," Wen Hongchang said when he saw Zhao Jun remain silent, "If you're still using the leopard skin for personal use, I won't say anything. But if you're selling it, sell it to me. I'll take as much as you have. I won't haggle over the price."
Upon hearing Hongchang's words, Zhao Jinhui was about to speak, but was stopped by a look from Zhao Jun.
“Okay, Uncle Wen. If I have it, and I want to sell it, I’ll definitely sell it to you.” Zhao Jun agreed with a smile. He knew what Wen Hongchang meant: he wanted to keep all the good things for himself and didn’t want others to have “wealth and fortune” as well.
Hearing Zhao Jun agree, Wen Hongchang was overjoyed and immediately asked Zhao Jun, "When are you going back to the Northeast?"
"Let's sleep for one night and leave first thing tomorrow morning," Zhao Jun said. Wen Hongchang quickly replied, "So eager? If you ask me, don't leave yet. I'll have Wen Ming show you around for a few days."
"Thank you, Uncle Wen," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "We appreciate your kindness, but we have to leave tomorrow; we still have work to do back home."
After Zhao Jun said that, Wen Hongchang didn't try to persuade him any further. But after they finished eating and left the restaurant, Wen Hongchang took a pack of cigarettes and two bottles of wine from his jeep and forced them into Zhao Jun's hands.
The liquor is Wuliangye. These days, Wuliangye is more famous than Moutai.
Zhao Jun glanced at the cigarette in his hand, and his heart skipped a beat.
Hua Zi!
If Zhao Youcai gets used to smoking, then there will be big trouble.
……
Zhao Jun and his group returned to the guesthouse and slept for a while. The next day, they did not get up early, but set off at around eight o'clock.
On the way back, there was no Zhao Weipeng, no jeep, and the six of them rode back in a large Jiefang truck.
Zhao Jun, Xie Chen, and Zhao Jinhui took turns driving, keeping the car running even when they were resting.
After a day and a night, around 4 a.m. on April 27, Jie Chen drove the Jiefang truck, with Xing San and Wang Qiang in the passenger seat, and Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin, and Zhao Jinhui resting in the back of the truck.
They put hay in the back of the car, then laid burlap sacks on top, and just lay there without caring about cleanliness or filth.
Suddenly, the car jolted violently, and Zhao Jun felt a sudden jolt.
The car has stopped!
Zhao Jun quickly got up, just as Jie Chen shouted, "Brother Jun, get out of the car! The car is stuck in a ditch!"
Zhao Jun, Zhang Yuanmin, and Zhao Jinhui quickly got out of the car, and as they got out, they saw that the wheels of the car in front had gone into the ditch.
The ditch wasn't wide or deep, but it was just the right size for a cartwheel to get stuck. Seeing that the cartwheel was still crushed by grass and broken sticks, Zhao Jun immediately knew that someone had deliberately set it up.
"Oh no!" Zhao Jun's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked around. This wasn't the place where they had encountered the robbers before, but it wasn't far from there either.
Just then, a gunshot rang out, and Zhao Jun, Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and Xie Chen all changed their expressions and raised their Type 56 semi-automatic rifles.
Immediately afterwards, people sprang out from the poplar grove on the left and the ground on the right, wielding sticks and rushing toward the road.
There were thirteen people in total, and the leader was an old acquaintance of the Zhao family's chamber of commerce, the skinny man who had been scared away by Zhao Jun's gun and then driven away by Zhang Yuanmin and Li Ruhai's coded language.
As for the fat man with intellectual disabilities, it's unclear why he didn't come.
When Zhao Jun recognized the skinny man, he also recognized Zhao Jun and the others.
"Haha!" The skinny man chuckled, handed the old foreign cannon to someone beside him, then raised his hand to Zhang Yuanmin in a fist salute, and said, "Clouds in the sky, roads on the ground, which fog do you recognize?"
Zhang Yuanmin: "..."
Zhao Jun and his five men: "..."
Seeing that Zhao Jun and the others didn't speak, the skinny man put down his hand, craned his neck and glanced into the back of the truck, probably looking for Li Ruhai.
Not seeing Li Ruhai, the skinny man clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhang Yuanmin and asked, "Is that a fire poker or a thunderbolt?"
Zhao Jun and the others couldn't understand what the skinny man was saying, so they could only look at Zhang Yuanmin.
At this moment, Zhang Yuanmin's lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't utter a single word.
The slang used by bandits in the streets isn't something you can just randomly pick up. Zhang Yuanmin's knowledge came entirely from those few comic books; how could he possibly handle that?
Seeing that Zhang Yuanmin still didn't speak, the skinny man put down his hand again and sneered, "Passing through the kiln without handing over a formal invitation, are you unfamiliar with us, or are you just too bold?"
Zhao Jun was annoyed by what he heard, and also angry because his car was stuck, so he immediately retorted, "I think you've got some nerve!"
As soon as Zhao Jun said this, the skinny man's henchman stepped forward and aimed his gun at Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun was startled to see Xing San standing in front of him.
"Third Uncle," Zhao Jun said, but Xing San didn't turn around. At this moment, the old man wasn't holding a gun, but his hand was touching his lower back.
Seeing this, Zhao Jun, wanting to avoid trouble, quickly put away his gun and stepped forward, saying to the skinny man, "This is the third time we've run into each other on the street today. Here's two hundred yuan for you. If you're willing, you can take your men and leave. If not, I'll take you down today."
"Go ahead and do it," the skinny guy sneered. "If you're so tough, then kill us all."
Before Zhao Jun could respond after the skinny man finished speaking, Xing San rushed over in front of him.
When they saw an old man approaching, all thirteen robbers were taken aback. The man with the foreign cannon, who was standing at the front, watched as Xing San pulled out a knife from behind and stabbed at him. He instinctively dodged to the side.
His attempt to dodge exposed him to the skinny guy.
"Ouch!" The skinny man was stunned when his underling suddenly disappeared, and in that moment of surprise, he saw a sharp knife coming straight at him!
Some brothers are always concerned about Zhao Jun's illiteracy. The story of Zhao Jun hunting and carrying ginseng is attributed to one person, which is actually the work of several different people.
But his background and origins—I call the real-life counterpart "Big Brother"—were uneducated, just like in the book. He also watched short videos, but all he saw were old women doing Yangko dances and square dancing; he didn't understand idioms or anything like that.
When we were chatting that day, he said, "There are dumplings in my stomach but I can't pour them out." What he actually meant was that the dumplings were being cooked in a teapot but he couldn't pour them out.
People have different perceptions; what you think he should know, he may not know.
This is equivalent to him describing the terrain of a place and assuming that after he finishes describing it, you should immediately have a mental image of what it looks like.
(End of this chapter)