Chapter 19: Selling Wild Pheasants in Town and Making a Small Profit

The next morning, Su Yu woke up and washed his face. His parents had already gone to work; his father to the brick factory, and his mother and eldest brother to the fields, with his fourth brother tagging along. Since school had not yet started, only his little sister was at home.

After washing up, Su Yu helped the little girl get ready, locked the door, and carried her to Huzi’s house. He left her there, as thirteen-year-old Su Qianqian did not need to work in the fields and could keep Su Jing company.

"Should we run there, or borrow a bike from the village chief?"

Su Yu thought for a moment and said, "Let's borrow a bike. If we don't happen to run into a cart on the road, walking to the county seat would be too far."

That was the convenience of life in the countryside: if you encountered an ox cart or a horse-drawn carriage on the road, you could catch a ride. People rarely refused; you would just greet them, call them "Uncle," and they would almost always agree to take you along, regardless of whether they knew you or not.

"Fine, I'll go borrow one. You wait here."

Huzi strode off toward the village chief's house. The chief’s home was the only one in the village with a bicycle. It wasn’t that the others couldn't afford one; it was that bicycle coupons were notoriously difficult to obtain. Otherwise, Li Youcai would have bought one long ago. Even though Li was just a local folk doctor, he didn't lack the money for a bike, but the coupon was another matter.

Bicycles were considered luxury assets, effectively the equivalent of a Rolls-Royce. If you tried to acquire a coupon on the black market, you might be fine if no one reported you, but if someone did, you would be in trouble.

Of course, black-market coupon dealers were clever; they would provide a provenance for the coupon, claiming it came from a director at a meat processing plant, for example. You could then tell the police to contact that director to verify it. You could invent a story about a relative or a gift, but it was undoubtedly a massive headache. If the information the dealer gave you was false, you were finished—unable to prove the origin of the coupon, it would be assumed you were scalping, and you could look forward to sitting in a jail cell.

The village chief’s bike was different; it was provided by the commune and paid for collectively, so anyone could borrow it for errands. However, if it were needed for official business, it couldn't be used for personal purposes; the bike was meant for public use.

"Let's go. I got it. I'll take you."

Huzi knew how to ride. Su Yu didn't decline and sat on the back. Huzi pedaled hard, and the bike surged forward. Before long, the two arrived in the county seat.

"Brother Yu, are we going straight to the commune, or should we try the state-run restaurant first?"

"Let's go to the state-run restaurant first. We can sell the furs at the commune on the way back."

Huzi didn't mind and followed directions. They found the largest state-run restaurant in the county, and Su Yu walked straight in with the burlap sack.

"Are you here to eat, or what?"

Seeing a young man walk in with a sack—and it wasn't even mealtime—a waiter who was wiping a table assumed the man was just looking for breakfast.

"Not eating. We're here to ask if you’re buying any pheasants?"

Hearing this, the waiter understood. It wasn't unheard of for people to bring wild game to the restaurant; it happened occasionally, and he was accustomed to it.

"Uh, that... we probably don't need any. Our restaurant has fixed procurement channels."

"Hey, friend, look, we’ve come all this way from the countryside. Could you please do us a favor and ask the kitchen staff?"

Seeing the two looking travel-worn and dressed like country boys, the waiter relented. "Fine, let me take a look first. Don't go bringing me things that have been dead for a long time just to fool me and get me scolded."

Su Yu immediately beamed, opened the sack, took one out, and held it up with confidence. "You can rest assured about that. This is the biggest state-run restaurant in the county—would I dare try to fool you? You have a sharp eye; you can tell at a glance that these were caught last night. They are absolutely fresh."

Though being a waiter wasn't a prestigious job, because it was a state-run establishment, one could simply coast through the day. Even if no customers came, the pay remained the same. Thus, these restaurants often had posters on the walls warning against beating guests without cause. In this era of "everyone is equal," waiters and sales clerks were incredibly arrogant; if they didn't like the look of you, they would genuinely resort to violence.

However, these were still people from the working class, and they were rarely flattered like this. Seeing that the young man was quite handsome, the waiter smiled. *This kid has a good eye, after all,* he thought. *I work at the restaurant; of course I can tell at a glance!*

"Alright, you've got a silver tongue, kid. I'll go ask, but I can't promise the chef will want them."

He turned and headed into the kitchen. Su Yu and Huzi exchanged a look and smiled. Soon after, a middle-aged man walked out.

"Young man, you're here to sell pheasants? Take them out and let me have a look."

"This is Manager Fan from our restaurant. If you want to sell pheasants, he needs to inspect them first."

Behind him followed another man, whose attire identified him as the head chef.

"Master Liu, take a look."

Su Yu thought to himself, *It's not like this is an antique appraisal, is it?* Just feeling the meat to see if it was still soft was enough to prove it hadn't been dead long.

The chef, surnamed Liu, stepped forward, picked up a pheasant, examined it, gave it a squeeze, then set it down and nodded.

"Ha! The lad didn't lie. That's good. Three pheasants—I'll take them all. I don't have a scale handy, so I'll just estimate a price for you."

"Three yuan each. It’s a fair deal for you. What do you think?"

Su Yu and Huzi were both startled. In the local market, a farm-raised chicken only sold for one yuan and fifty cents, and even a laying hen was only two yuan. There wasn't much of a culture of eating pheasant in these parts, but for the wealthy, it was a different story; many rich patrons enjoyed game.

"Why, not satisfied? If you could bring me a hazel grouse, I’d pay eighty yuan for one. But these are just common pheasants; they aren't worth that much."

Hazel grouse, commonly known as "flying dragons," were extremely rare. Their taste was legendary—"dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground." Beyond their flavor, they held medicinal value, but they were scarce.

"That's fine. Manager Fan is the expert here; I'll take your word for it."

"Hahaha, not bad, kid. I like your attitude. Tell you what—I'll give you ten yuan for all three. Remember to bring anything good here in the future."

Meat was in short supply everywhere, but as the largest state-run restaurant in the county, he frequently had high-ranking officials visiting with diverse and demanding tastes. He had to do his best to satisfy them. He wasn't against buying game; he just had to be strict about quality. If an official got sick, who would take the blame? He had to oversee the quality personally.

The three pheasants Su Yu brought were definitely wild, and since it was just the beginning of spring, they hadn't spoiled.

"Haha, Manager Fan is generous. I wish you booming business!"

Su Yu bowed repeatedly in thanks. A short while later, he received the ten yuan. After bidding farewell to Manager Fan, Su Yu took Huzi to a breakfast stall, ordered two bowls of tofu pudding and four steamed buns each, and dug in.