Chapter 428 - 367: Popping Up in the Gourmet Group, Selling a Soft-shelled Turtle (Part 2)

Chapter 428: Chapter 367: Popping Up in the Gourmet Group, Selling a Soft-shelled Turtle (Part 2)

He had both electronic and traditional scales.

He went into the shop and brought out a traditional scale—the kind with a beam, a counterweight, a hook, and a pan.

This type of scale was easy to bring outside.

Li You handed the scale to Liu Haibo. "Uncle Haibo, you do it."

Liu Haibo was thrilled. He hadn’t expected to actually sell one.

However, he didn’t take the scale. Instead, he said, "Xiaoyou, you weigh it. Just go ahead and weigh it."

"Well..."

Li You thought for a moment. ’Alright, then.’

He then picked up the soft-shelled turtle Wang Ge Fei had chosen and hooked the scale’s hook onto the edge of its shell.

It weighed in at five jin and two liang.

Sure enough, it was over five jin.

"Five jin and two liang. How about we just call it an even five jin? Uncle Haibo, is that okay?" Li You asked Liu Haibo.

"Yes, of course! No problem. Five jin makes the math easier," Liu Haibo said, nodding repeatedly.

Wang Ge Fei smiled. "Then thank you, Boss Li and Uncle Haibo. Five jin for 3,000 yuan. I don’t have that much cash on me. Uncle Haibo, can I pay by QR code?"

Liu Haibo shook his head. "My phone can’t scan codes; it’s an old-fashioned model. Why don’t you just bring the money next time? That’s fine too."

Of course, Liu Haibo had absolute trust in any of Li You’s customers.

But Wang Ge Fei turned to Li You and said, "How about this, Boss Li? You can pay him for me, and I’ll just add 3,000 yuan to my bill with you."

Li You smiled. "I was just about to suggest that."

"Thanks for the trouble, Boss Li."

"Don’t mention it, Boss Wang."

Then, he turned to Liu Haibo and said, "Uncle Haibo, I’ll get you the money in a little while."

Liu Haibo quickly replied, "No rush, no rush! Anytime is fine."

Just then, another customer asked Wang Ge Fei, "Boss Wang, would a wild soft-shelled turtle like this sell well at your shop?"

Wang Ge Fei replied, "To be honest, smaller ones sell better—the ones that are just over a jin. Wild turtles of that size usually go for a bit over a hundred yuan per jin, maybe around 120 or 130. That way, when a customer buys one to take home, it only costs them two or three hundred yuan. That price point is much easier to sell."

The customers all nodded. It made sense when they thought about it.

After another round of discussion about the turtles, some customers began to order their meals.

Li You said to Liu Haibo, "Uncle Haibo, you can keep an eye on things out here. I’m going in to start cooking for everyone."

Liu Haibo nodded. "Alright, alright, you go get busy. And when you have a moment, could you make me a portion of twice-cooked pork with green peppers, a mapo tofu, and chop up half a braised chicken? I’ll get it to-go later. I’ll tell my family not to cook tonight so they can have a nice meal for a change."

Li You was slightly surprised, but he quickly gave a small smile and said, "Okay."

Then he walked into the shop, entered the kitchen, and started cooking.

The customers also began to file into the shop, ready to eat.

Including Wang Ge Fei.

He hadn’t taken his turtle yet. It was still in the basin, and he would grab it on his way out.

A steady stream of customers continued to arrive, and almost all of them were very interested in the turtles. They would stop in front of the large basin to take a long look and ask a few questions.

For example, were they wild? How were they caught? Where were they caught? Things like that.

After learning that Liu Haibo had caught them with a Turtle Spear, every one of them gave him a thumbs-up.

That was some serious skill, and they were all very impressed.

At the same time, a few customers also showed interest in buying one.

However, they were shocked when they heard the price and ultimately had to give up the idea.

They just couldn’t bring themselves to spend that much.

Of course, they knew the price wasn’t actually unreasonable for what it was. But they still couldn’t bring themselves to buy it.

Liu Haibo wasn’t disappointed.

He’d already sold one, which left him more than satisfied.

After all, his initial plan was to sell them for 200 yuan a jin. Even if he had sold both at that price, he would have only made 2,000 yuan.

Now, he had already earned an extra 1,000 yuan.

So, it didn’t matter if the remaining one sold or not.

In fact, he was already thinking that if it didn’t sell after a little while longer, he might as well just give it to Li You.

’After all, Li You is the reason I made this extra 1,000 yuan. It’s nothing to give it to him.’

’It’s 6:30 p.m. now,’ he thought. ’I’ll wait until 7:00. That’s another half hour.’

If it wasn’t sold by 7:00 p.m., he’d give it to Li You, grab his food, and head home for dinner.

’The food here is absolutely delicious, after all.’

...

「At the kitchen entrance.」

Ling Xiaoru ran up to the kitchen entrance and asked Li You, "Boss, is that uncle selling turtles out front from your village?"

When Ling Xiaoru had first arrived, she had also been intrigued by the turtles in the large basin.

Li You nodded. "That’s right. His name is Liu Haibo. I call him Uncle Haibo. He speared two soft-shelled turtles in the big river by our village this afternoon and brought them here to sell. He’s already sold one, but there’s still one left."

Ling Xiaoru said, "I heard people talking about it when I was outside just now. It was Boss Wang who bought it, right?"

Li You nodded again. "Yes."

Ling Xiaoru asked again, "Boss, what does ’hunting turtles’ mean? How do you do it?"

"Hmm?" Li You was a little surprised. "You don’t know?"

Ling Xiaoru said, "I don’t. Boss, am I supposed to know?"

"Well... not necessarily. You use a Turtle Spear to hunt them. A Turtle Spear is kind of like a fishing rod, you know?" Li You explained.

Ling Xiaoru shook her head. "I’ve never heard of it. This is the first I’m hearing about it."

"Does no one in your village hunt turtles?"

"I don’t think so? At least, I’ve never seen anyone do it or even heard anyone talk about it."

"Really?"

Li You was a little surprised. But then again, it was understandable.

The number of people who knew how to hunt turtles was indeed dwindling. Nowadays, even in the countryside, there were probably many people who had never heard of this unique skill.