Chapter 28: Educated Youth Xu Appears, Su Yu Plays the Hero

Speaking so bluntly is quite risky; what if it offends Manager Fan? One has to realize that the price Manager Fan is offering is likely unmatched anywhere else in the entire county.

Still, as the saying goes, who is Su Yu to him? Why would a stranger treat him like a brother? To be this amiable after only meeting twice, the reason is simple: Su Yu can provide good things, and Manager Fan needs them.

What doesn't carry risk? Doing business requires capital, and once you have capital, you have to bear the risks. It can be said that money is hard to earn, and if he didn't speak up, he would be a true fool.

Manager Fan seemed surprised as well. He wondered to himself, back when he was young, if someone far more successful than him had asked for a favor, he might have even done it for free just to build a connection. But after being in the game for so many years, he understood clearly how people interact: no matter how much you try to cozy up to someone, it is useless if you cannot keep pace with them.

"Haha, don't worry, little brother. I’m not a freeloader; I won't let you help for nothing. But it needs to be quick. You know, when it comes to showing sincerity, timing is everything, don't you think?"

By saying this, Manager Fan revealed the purpose of the wild soft-shelled turtles. It was also clear that he had realized Su Yu was intentionally driving up the price, guessing that Su Yu had likely figured out his intentions; otherwise, he wouldn't have risked making such a subtle demand for a higher price.

When a smart person makes money, their opponent considers it reasonable. But if greed takes hold, the other party will find you insatiable and deeply annoying. Smart people do smart things; dealing with them is simple and direct.

"Haha, of course. If you have a need, brother, I’ll go through fire and water for you."

The two shared a laugh, and then Su Yu took his leave, declining Manager Fan’s offer of breakfast.

"Who the hell treats people to breakfast? Only a weirdo would do that."

"Uh, Brother Yu, you were the one who treated me last time."

Su Yu looked back at Huzi, his expression clear and innocent.

"Forget it, let’s go. Let’s get some breakfast."

Su Yu decided not to bicker with Huzi. He walked on his own to the breakfast stall from last time, ordering four steamed buns, two bowls of tofu pudding, and a fried dough stick for each of them.

"Hey, Brother Yu, why did you order an extra fried dough stick this time?"

"Because your brother has money now. Can’t you just eat and keep your mouth shut?"

As he spoke, he looked around, took out forty-four yuan, and handed it to Huzi.

"Take it. Don't let people see. Buy something for your family when you get back, and don't spend it recklessly."

One hundred and thirty-three yuan—one-third of that is exactly forty-four yuan. Su Yu keeps his word; he said he’d share it, and he did.

"No, that’s too much. We still need to give some to Brother Dayong. Don't you remember the old rule? The main contributor gets two-thirds, and the rest split the remaining third. Before, it was just me, but last time Dayong was there. This forty-four includes Dayong's share."

"Alright, alright. Brother Yong won't take your money. I'll just buy him something when I go back. He definitely wouldn't accept cash."

Huzi thought about it and realized that was true. Su Dayong and Su Yu were first cousins—the "same grandparents" kind. Dayong would definitely refuse; after all, who takes money from a younger cousin? Especially since he only contributed a little bit of effort anyway.

"Then don't you pay; count it as mine. Otherwise, the villagers will say I don't know the rules."

Hunting a blue sheep was indeed rare. While Su Yu and Dayong were cousins, his relationship with Su Yu, though close, wasn't as deep by blood as Dayong's. In other words, Su Yu could have easily gone hunting with Dayong and ignored him. When it came to height and weight, he wasn't even a match for Dayong, so there was no question of who was getting the short end of the stick. It was just that Dayong was lucky enough to have a big catch on his first trip out.

Seeing Huzi insist, Su Yu stopped arguing. They were childhood friends, after all; getting red-faced over a few dozen yuan would only hurt their relationship. Since Huzi was being so conscientious, he couldn't just be stubborn and refuse him.

Su Yu had eighty-nine yuan left. Adding in the breakfast from this morning, he was left with eighty-eight yuan—a significant harvest.

"Let's go. Come with me to the commune; let’s sell the pelts."

Su Yu and Huzi rode their bikes straight to the town, entered the commune, and found Old Wu. This time, they had the rabbit skins, badger skins, and the blue sheep skin from before.

The rabbit skins were a couple more than last time. Although the blue sheep skin wasn't as outrageously priced as the grey squirrel, which cost two yuan for a patch the size of a palm, it was large and the fur was in excellent condition. Su Yu had shot the sheep in the neck, leaving almost no holes in the entire hide.

"Four rabbit skins, I’ll give you 1.20 yuan each, that’s 4.80. The badger skin isn't worth much, so let's call it 3 yuan. And the blue sheep skin, 5.20. That’s 13 yuan in total. How’s that?"

Whether Old Wu was lowballing him or not, Su Yu didn't know. He wasn't a professional hunter, but the price certainly wasn't low. Without hesitation, Su Yu agreed.

"Here, your 4.30 yuan."

Su Yu handed it directly to Huzi. With this, Su Yu’s total earnings reached 97.70 yuan. Just three yuan shy of a hundred—a massive sum, equivalent to five months of his father’s salary.

"Hehe, then I’ll take it. I’ll buy a gift for Brother Yong later."

The two chatted and laughed as they entered the supply and marketing cooperative to buy food and supplies. Huzi bought a ready-made outfit for Su Dayong. It cost over twenty yuan, which was definitely a hefty price—a full set of a cyan Zhongshan suit, from jacket to trousers.

Su Yu also wanted to buy one for his brother, Su Sheng. After all, his brother still hadn't found a match, which was quite worrying. But Su Yu had been wanting to buy a gun and was saving his money; otherwise, he would have bought something for everyone in his family.

"Let’s go, let’s walk around the county town."

"Brother Yu, has the money gone to your head? Why are you wandering around instead of going home?"

*Smack!* Huzi felt a slap on the back of his head from Su Yu.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Now that we have money, shouldn't we buy some grain for the family? Do you want your family to starve along with you?"

The two were used to bickering. Huzi didn't get angry after the slap; he just gave a sheepish grin and muttered, "Oh, so you want to buy grain. But... we don't have ration coupons."

"I know we don't, but someone else does."

As they began to stroll, Su Yu’s plan was simple: he would go to the state-run restaurant in the evening. He and Huzi would have a meal there, and he intended to trade for some ration coupons with Manager Fan. Ration coupons were indeed distributed per capita, but for certain people, there were always ways to get them. At the very least, he could use the opportunity to ask about the location of the black market.

Huzi had always been a loyal sidekick; otherwise, he wouldn't have tagged along with Su Yu to hunt in the mountains. After all, Su Yu had no prior hunting experience, and following him into the mountains was undoubtedly dangerous. But Huzi dared to do it—simply because they had grown up together.

"Brother Yu, look. Is that Youth Xu over there?"

Following the direction Huzi was pointing, they saw Youth Xu and another female educated youth by the lake in the park, their path blocked by three hooligans.

Su Yu rubbed his forehead. This was truly cliché. Honestly, he didn't want to play the hero, nor did he want to show off. But the moment Huzi pointed, Youth Xu had already spotted them. Leaving now would clearly be inappropriate; after all, she was an educated youth from their own village. If he saw this and didn't help, he would surely be criticized by the village chief upon returning.