Chapter 62: Returning Fully Loaded (Part 2)

Twenty-one Gold Plangs was an absolutely unimaginable sum of money for most of the villagers in Talim Village, and it instantly left them completely stunned!

After a long time, the other people at the table finally regained their senses. Before anyone else could speak, Tazerikov suddenly stood up and looked at Luo Pei with a face full of disbelief, saying, “Director… Director! Did it really sell for twenty-one Gold Plangs? Really?!”

Seeing the old man so excited, Luo Pei was actually afraid he might have a burst blood vessel, so he quickly nodded and said, “Yes, Old Tazerikov, it really sold for twenty-one Gold Plangs! Snow, Istvan, and the others were all there at the time. You can ask them if you don’t believe me!”

“I believe… I believe…” Tazerikov paused again, and after a while, he spoke in a slow voice. For some reason, his trembling voice carried a sense of old age and exhaustion, which was completely different from how he usually sounded.

How could he not believe it? Istvan was his own grandson. When Istvan found time to tell him the news in the afternoon, he had been half-doubting it, which was why he ran to Luo Pei for confirmation. But now that Luo Pei had said it, how could he possibly still doubt it?!

Luo Pei had no reason to lie about such a thing…

However, this was exactly why Tazerikov felt so struck. His feelings for Talim Village were beyond doubt, but something he had never achieved in his life was easily done by Luo Pei, a yellow-haired kid he had always looked down upon. He didn’t know how to feel about this result—was it loss, sadness, excitement, or thrill? For a moment, he felt a mix of emotions that were hard to describe.

Seeing Tazerikov like this, Luo Pei seemed to feel a bit of pity. He hesitated for a moment and then spoke softly, “Old Tazerikov, actually, there is more than that. There is another great piece of good news! It is even better than this.”

Another great piece of good news? Everyone’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. Was there really “great” news better than this?

Previously, upon hearing that Luo Pei had earned a total of forty-one Gold Plangs from one trip, everyone had been so excited they didn’t know what to say. But now Luo Pei dropped another bomb, saying there was even better news. Everyone’s expressions became extremely strange, and they didn’t know how to look at Luo Pei anymore.

However, Luo Pei did not keep them in suspense this time. He smiled and spoke loudly, “Old Belikov, the fur trading firm in the main county was very satisfied with the furs we brought. They heard we have many more here, so they plan to send a specialist to our village to investigate. I have already signed a contract with them. If they confirm the quality is similar and that we can indeed guarantee a stable long-term supply, they are willing to come to our village twice a year to purchase. The price will fluctuate slightly according to the market price. This way, we won’t need to keep running to Lons Pompey City.”

Coming to Talim Village to buy on-site?!

Yes, this was exactly the agreement reached between Raffy and Luo Yan. Because the “goods for shares” model was unacceptable, Raffy finally decided to add a temporary clause: they would organize personnel to go to Talim Village to buy the goods on-site… One should not think this was merely a small matter. In Luo Yan’s view, in a sense, this was actually more attractive than shares.

First, one had to understand that Luo Pei went to Lons Pompey City to promote the beast skins not to get rich, but for his own political achievements. Therefore, in terms of “benefits,” his first consideration was political gain, followed by economic gain.

The benefits of “shares” required foresight to understand. Due to their own environment, the mountain people were inevitably short-sighted. This was not a slight, but simply a realistic observation. For the villagers of Talim Village, how could an invisible benefit like “dividends,” which wouldn’t be received until the end of next year, be compared to shiny, heavy cash? Moreover, the impact on the villagers of seeing a merchant caravan with large wagons arriving for on-site purchases was simply unimaginable.

Of course, there were other economic benefits. Although they weren’t as generous as dividends, the Pia Chamber of Commerce buying on-site would at least reduce many tax expenses for Talim Village… A few samples were one thing, but for bulk goods transported from Talim Village to Lons Pompey City, taxes would certainly be collected along the way. Those taxes might be nothing to the Pia Chamber of Commerce, but for the villagers of Talim Village, it was a huge sum of money that would make them bleed.

Sure enough, as Luo Yan predicted, when Luo Pei mentioned the long-term purchase, everyone present already showed expressions of excitement and confusion. When he said they were willing to come and buy on-site, everyone was completely stunned!

That the hunted furs could sell for so much money was already unimaginable; such a thing had never happened in their world. Furthermore, it seemed this wasn’t a one-time deal, but a long-term business from which everyone in the village could benefit, and the buyers were taking the initiative to come to them… In an instant, “excited” was no longer enough to describe their feelings. They felt as if they were in a dream, and the hall suddenly fell into a strange silence.

…

“What ‘sold for a high price’? These useless scraps of fur can sell for ten or twenty Gold Plangs? Bah! Do you think those city people are idiots? I’m telling you, don’t believe those empty words. Who saw it? Did you see it or did I see it? Humph… all just nonsense!”

At night, in the home of the village elder Belikov, the lights were also bright. Belikov had prepared a few small dishes and called over several villagers who were usually on good terms with him. Although it wasn’t as lively as Luo Pei’s house, the atmosphere was quite intense.

While they were drinking and chatting, a man who looked rather reckless suddenly spoke up, “Old Belikov, I heard from my old man that the kid actually seemed to pull it off this time. Not only did the beast skins he took sell for a high price, but he also signed a contract. Someone is coming to our village soon to buy beast skins for a high price. What do you think about this…”

Hearing this, Belikov rolled his eyes and mocked him harshly with the words mentioned before. Hearing this, the others looked at each other. Finally, the man who spoke earlier said cautiously, “But… that… it seems he really did make a lot of money. Istvan said…”

Before he could finish, Belikov waved his hand dismissively and said crossly, “Enough… stop talking nonsense. How many bowls of rice has that kid Istvan eaten? What does he know? Maybe the kid arranged it himself! Since when have our ancestors ever encountered such a thing? I’m telling you, these people from the city are very wicked. They are useless at doing real work, but they are experts at creating these fake things! Hehe… didn’t he say someone is coming to buy soon? We just have to wait and see!”

The others now looked doubtful after his words. On one hand, they felt that since Luo Pei spoke so earnestly, it seemed unlikely he was lying. But on the other hand, as Old Belikov said, their ancestors had indeed never experienced such a thing. It sounded too magical to be true. For a moment, they really didn’t know which side was telling the truth…