sjar Chapter 391 Snow Leopard Skin Customer
Chapter 391 Snow Leopard Skin Customer
Lu Zhiqiang is indeed shameless. He's all talk and no action; all he does is eat, drink, and hang out with Li Ju'an. It's fortunate that the two of them grew up together, and that Song Lanhua is gentle and treats him like a son. Otherwise, in any other family, he would be utterly disliked.
Lu Jinyang sighed and said, "I remember the production team used to raise geese. Team Leader Chen is now living in the old house next to the production team. Let's go see him tomorrow, bring some eggs, and go see him."
Lu Jinyang was very good at social interactions and always put on a good show. Lu Zhiqiang simply gave up and laughed, "Alright then, maybe Captain Chen is still raising geese. Let's buy his geese."
Lu Zhiqiang was thrilled at the thought of having a stewed goose in an iron pot. He exclaimed, "Aunt Song, let's bring a goose tomorrow and stew it together! It'll be worth the trip!"
Song Lanhua responded, "Don't be so polite. Just tell me what you want to eat, and we can make anything we have at home."
The Lu brothers left, bickering, and Li Guaizi followed them back along the dirt road.
The three of them walked along, flashlights in hand, chatting and complaining.
"It gets dark so early, and it's so cool at night. I wonder if the two quilts at home will be enough."
"We have to get through the winter. Is there enough cotton? If not, we have to replenish it. We can fluff it up a couple of times and remake it."
“This costs money. If you ask me, we should get more furs. If you go to the forest guardhouse, you can put more coal in the stove to burn when it gets cold at night. You can also stay warm under the furs and not have to make do with what you have for the winter.”
The three of them chatted on and on about how to get through the winter. In those days of scarcity, winter could really freeze people to death, and every household had to plan how to survive the winter.
Li Ju'an sat eating his dinner, still drowsy. He had slept well for nine days already; if he didn't make it through this, not only would the eagle die, but he himself wouldn't be able to recover.
Suddenly, Li Xiao from upstairs exclaimed, "Brother, come quick, brother!"
Li Ju'an stopped eating, jumped up, and ran upstairs. Song Lanhua called out to him, "Slow down, be careful not to trip, turn on the light."
Song Lanhua turned on the light for him, and he hurried to the falcon's side.
The female golden eagle, which had been listless and barely breathing, suddenly seemed more energetic, and her eyes brightened considerably.
Li Ju'an feared this was the golden eagle's last burst of energy before death. Old folks in Eagle Village often said that when a falcon is on its last legs, it will appear spirited for a brief moment. He was secretly annoyed and quickly used his chopsticks to bring a piece of leaping cat meat, still freshly bloodied, to the mother golden eagle's beak.
To his surprise, the golden eagle did not hesitate at all this time and swallowed the cat meat whole.
The golden eagle snatched up the leaping cat meat, the bloody flesh still covered in bits of fat and blood. The golden eagle tilted its head back and gulped it down, its neck stretching and contracting in a single swallow. With that, it swallowed the leaping cat meat, skin and small bones, whole.
Li Ju'an was overjoyed.
Nine consecutive days of arduous training with the eagle brought him to a smug grin, his lips parting in a wide, ear-length smile. He suppressed the urge to shout with excitement and quickly picked up some more cat meat with his chopsticks and handed it over.
The golden eagle's second bite was even quicker. It looked like it had figured things out and understood. It opened its mouth without any hesitation and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp. After finishing, it even slightly spread its wings and stretched its neck to reach for the chopsticks, looking like it wanted more.
Li Xiao was overjoyed and shouted downstairs, "Uncle Zhao, come and see! The eagle is eating meat!"
Zhao Pao was still teasing Da Hu in the backyard, finding the hunting dogs amusing, and following Li Ju'an to learn how to train them. Upon hearing the word "training," he took off running, tripping several times on the stairs and stomping his knees a few times before finally sprinting upstairs.
As soon as Zhao Pao rushed upstairs to his room, he witnessed a scene that shocked him beyond belief.
The once unruly golden eagle, wild and untamed, was now surprisingly docile, perched on Li Ju'an's arm and the leather shoulder guard he wore. It even opened its beak and pecked at the various pieces of raw meat that he offered.
There was argali meat, takin meat, and bamboo rat meat. It ate all kinds of meat. Li Ju'an broke off a piece of cornbread, and the starving golden eagle tilted its head back and ate the cornbread, swallowing it down hard. It stared expectantly at Li Ju'an's hand, looking to see if there was any other food.
Zhao Pao stared in astonishment, exclaiming, "Damn! It really got tamed?"
He glanced at the golden eagle on the drying rope beside him; it was indeed his male falcon. Otherwise, he would have thought he was seeing things, that Li Ju'an was feeding his already trained falcon.
Li Ju'an chuckled and fastened the thin iron chain from his shoulder to the golden eagle's ankle. The golden eagle didn't resist or show any fierce struggle; on the contrary, it remained quite calm.
Li Ju'an said, "Zhao Pao, feed him this much for the first time, only a third of his fill. Feed him another third of his fill tomorrow morning, and he can go out to train in the field. Let this flat-haired fellow know that it's better to eat from my hands than to look for food outside."
The northwest wind outside was blowing harder and harder, and the golden eagles, seasoned by the Gobi Desert and mountains, knew all too well how difficult it was to hunt in winter. There wasn't enough food outside, but humans had plenty.
With a full stomach and plenty of food, plus Li Ju'an's patient companionship, the golden eagle gradually became tamed.
Zhao Pao exclaimed, "This is really damn strange! It's really strange!"
He couldn't wait to rush to Eagle Village and tell all the veteran eagle handlers this earth-shattering news. An adult golden eagle had actually been tamed, and the falconer was a young man of only 20 years old.
Li Ju'an was very busy after that.
Besides training falcons in the vicinity during the day, using the three falcons to hunt small animals in the area according to the whistle's instructions, he also had to find Pangdo and tell him the next buyer of the prepared snow leopard pelt.
This is Pang Duolai's second visit to Lijiatun.
He noticed a snow leopard skin hanging on Li Ju'an's wall. Its completeness, its luster, and the fact that it was a tanned hide that required a skilled craftsman to produce—he exclaimed in surprise, "This isn't a raw hide; it's a tanned hide! It could fetch a good price overseas through trade!"
Pang Duolai was a businessman, driven by profit, and he smiled broadly. He wouldn't have traveled all this way to Lijiatun if it weren't for the potential gains. But he had no choice; there simply weren't any good pelts to buy in the town before the New Year. The peak season for pelt trading was after the New Year. By then, the wild animals' pelts were thick and sturdy from the winter, hunters were out hunting more, and merchants were returning from the south to work, driving up prices.
It's currently the off-season for leather goods, but there's no off-season for overseas trade.
Pang Duolai was about to haggle over the price when Li Ju'an, knowing what he was thinking, cut him off, saying, "This hide has already been reserved."
Pang Duolai was taken aback, then his face hardened and he scolded, "Li Ju'an, are you playing me? The leather has already been ordered, why did you call me here?"
Li Ju'an laughed and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. You know the person who placed the order, Boss Pang. He's also your client. How could I possibly compete with Boss Pang for business?"
"Who ordered this snow leopard skin? And it's so well made. Ordinary people can't afford it, and they can't eat it all."
Pang Duo was telling the truth. Everyone knows that rare commodities are valuable, but not everyone has the capital to acquire them. A tanned snow leopard pelt like this can fetch twice the price of a freshly skinned one, far exceeding the value of a raw pelt. Even if it were sent overseas to sell to wealthy foreigners, it could still be quite profitable.
Li Ju'an said, "Qin Shuang."
"Who?"
"Qin Shuang, the proprietress of the Hong Kong Auction House."
Pang Duolai fell silent and shut his mouth.
A thought popped into his mind: Had Li Ju'an really gotten in touch with Qin Shuang? He really didn't want to deal with that crazy woman. The last time he had dealt with her, her harsh conditions almost skinned him alive.
Pang Duolai said, "Never mind that woman, sell me this pelt. I'll buy it at the price of a large pelt. I'll give you 800."
Li Ju'an asked in surprise, "800? Qin Shuang's suggested price over the phone was 3800."