Rotting Land: Survive-Chapter 515 - 508: The Deal

As soon as the radio waves were heard, Xu Renjie had already judged that the call was from Liu Fugui.

The facts also proved his judgment very correct, as the call indeed came from Liu Fugui.

A typical round of pleasantries was exchanged, and since there was nothing else, Xu Renjie patiently accompanied this old fox through the set procedures.

Then Liu Fugui asked about Tang Xiaoquan’s situation in quite a detailed manner, asking everything from the latter’s current mental state to whether Old Xu had sent anyone to investigate the JZ County Shelter.

In response, Xu Renjie made no preparation and truthfully answered him candidly.

Having said that, Liu Fugui then moved on to the substantive content, plainly coming to discuss so-called "cooperation".

"Hehe, Old Xu, since we last parted at the factory, you must still remember our talk about ’cooperation’, right?"

"Yes, of course, I remember. Does General Manager Liu have any needs?"

"Oh, haha," a hearty laugh, Liu Fugui replied with praise, "As expected from a military man, Captain Xu, you are indeed brilliant. Yes, I’m calling this time mainly to talk about this matter."

The corners of his lips slightly curved, and accustomed to the old fox’s tricks, Xu Renjie calmly and quietly said, "Go ahead, what do you need?"

"Well, two things, one is fuel, and the other is medicine."

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Xu Renjie’s forehead wrinkled slightly, "Why, does it look like General Manager Liu is planning to set out?"

Undoubtedly, with Liu Fugui’s depth and character, Xu Renjie knew that the latter would never die cooped up in a small factory.

So, without any surprises, the other party seeking a trade for these two items was most likely planning to go out.

However, Liu Fugui’s reply was entirely different from Xu Renjie’s analysis.

"Oh, hehe," with his usual faint smile, Liu Fugui unhurriedly replied, "Captain Xu, to be honest with you, I do indeed have intentions of going out now, but you saw last time, the beasts have trapped my people in the factory for over four months, and the daily sight of those beasts baring their fangs and claws, the deafening howls of the corpses, have already scared them out of their wits, making them incapable of going out. Otherwise, why would I need to do business with you? Wouldn’t that be redundant? I need fuel, to be frank, to make some reserves for the factory’s generators, these last few months of continuous consumption have nearly exhausted the last stores. As for the medicines, it’s even more indispensable. Many workers in the factory are severely ill, and even I myself have a severe stomach illness due to the lack of medicines."

Liu Fugui spoke quite frankly, and after hearing it, Xu Renjie did not pursue further questions.

However, knowing the reasons, Xu Renjie was not foolish enough to forfeit his rights out of "sympathy".

As it’s said, business is like a battlefield, he’s very aware of Liu Fugui’s abilities.

Perhaps in a battlefield, the other party is not as good as himself, but when it comes to business battles, Xu Renjie believes Liu Fugui could certainly be considered a cunning hero.

So he dared not be careless, and after a couple of perfunctory acknowledgments, he calmly said, "Okay, General Manager Liu, I understand what you need. What about compensation? What are you planning to give me?"

"Great!" Liu Fugui gave an affirmative appreciative response, "I just like straightforward people. My idea is this, I have food reserves on my side, I intend to trade with you based on the condition of 1 liter of oil for 3 jins of supplies, and for the medicines, we can exchange according to their value. How about that?"

Slightly taken aback, Xu Renjie did not expect Liu Fugui to have the terms of the exchange so finely detailed. However, Xu Renjie also had his own plans.

"Ah," he first let out a light sigh, then in a challenging tone responded, "To be honest, as a soldier, I don’t like haggling with people, but there are a few points I must make, I hope General Manager Liu won’t mind."

"Haha, not at all, the first time we met, I told you, Old Xu, that I, Liu Fugui, separate public from private affairs when it comes to business. If public matters are kept under wraps, how could personal friendships be maintained?"

"Alright, since General Manager Liu has said so, I will be frank." Following the conversation thread, Xu Renjie went straight to the point, "As is well known, in this post-apocalyptic world, two things are most precious. One, is food and water supplies; two is fuel supply; logically, you provide food supplies, and I provide fuel supplies, a mutually reasonable exchange. But, General Manager Liu, frankly speaking, since we’re risking getting fuel, we could easily gather supplies along the way. So the 1 to 3 ratio, for us, doesn’t really have much allure. At least, it doesn’t correspond to the risks we’ve taken."

"Hmm, reasonable, I didn’t think it through, then what is Captain Xu’s suggestion?" Truly an old hand in business, faced with the tough conditions posed by Xu Renjie, he agreed almost without thinking.

"1 liter of oil for 10 jins of supplies." Xu Renjie did not care how adept Liu Fugui was in business warfare; his countermeasure was very simple, to circle at a psychologically low price, accepting if it’s higher but absolutely refusing if it’s lower.

It’s a principle he must defend because he knows very clearly, this trade can only maximize benefits this time.

And if missed this time, once Liu Fugui, having secured fuel, could organise personnel to go out and forage for supplies independently.

By then, all the escort efforts and fuel consumed by our side would have been in vain.

"1 liter for 8 jins!"

"No, 10 jins!"

After a bout of bargaining, steadfast in principle, Xu Renjie finally triumphed, and Liu Fugui agreed to exchange 10 jins of food supplies for 1 liter of fuel.

Having concluded this, Old Xu put forward another request: "General Manager Liu, I’d also like to trade for some live poultry!"

"Live poultry?"

"Yes!" Ever since drinking chicken soup last time, Xu Renjie had been thinking about getting some live poultry for the base.

Therefore, when it came to this issue, Xu Renjie did not ask whether the other side had live poultry, but directly proposed the exchange.

However, what surprised Xu Renjie was Liu Fugui, showing not the slightest concealment, and candidly saying, "No problem, I have poultry, but the rarity of this, Captain Xu, you should understand. No nonsense, 30 liters of oil for one chicken, and we only exchange one."

"Alright! But I need a hen!"

"Hahaha, Captain Xu, that won’t do! For a hen, you’ll need 60 liters of oil."

"Okay! 60 liters it is!" Unwilling to let a good opportunity slip away, Xu Renjie readily agreed.

The pair then also negotiated on the trade for medicines, deciding to let their respective medical personnel price the medicines according to their large categories.

Only after all this did they terminate the exchange talk.

Gently placing the hand-held radio on the table, Huang Yong, who had been standing by, immediately poured some hot water into Liu Fugui’s teacup and quietly asked, "General Manager Liu, didn’t we offer too high a price for this deal?"

Lightly raising his eyelids to glance at Huang Yong, Liu Fugui smiled indifferently, "Yes, the price is indeed somewhat high! This Xu Renjie is quite a character! But for those who accomplish big things, how could they care about such petty gains? By the way, when is He Lei’s side planning to set off?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)