Reborn in 1981, starting by smashing my iron rice bowl.

Chapter 155 Goodbye Pierre

Given the current domestic consumption level, even the best products won't fetch a high price. The best option is to find a foreign buyer for this ambergris through Pierre and make a killing off the foreigners.

At this moment, Liu Weidong missed the convenient communication methods of later generations, where he could just make a phone call if something happened, but now he had to go to the city in person.

Since they were going to the city anyway, Liu Weidong decided to go to Gonggeng Village first and bring back all the dried matsutake mushrooms that Ma Yongxian had collected recently. Adding those that Hao Jianjun had collected in his own village, there were a total of more than 70 jin of dried matsutake mushrooms and about 10 jin of truffles.

Liu Weidong was very satisfied with his gains and took them into the city the next day.

However, carrying nearly 90 pounds of luggage on a crowded bus was extremely strenuous. Even though Liu Weidong was young and strong at the time, he was exhausted by the time he reached the Western restaurant.

Liu Weidong put down the two huge baskets on the ground to rest, and couldn't help but sigh softly, "Phew... we've finally arrived. I'm exhausted. If only we had a car."

However, Liu Weidong also knew that cars were an absolute luxury these days. Even Wei Guohui, the county's top official, had to share a car with several other leaders, and it was an old, outdated Beijing Jeep. Private ownership of a car was simply impossible, and even buying a motorcycle was extremely difficult.

So Liu Weidong had no choice but to put the idea aside for the time being and go to see Pierre with his basket on his back.

"Ha, my dear friend, you've finally arrived! I've missed you so much!" The enthusiastic Frenchman opened his arms wide and greeted Liu Weidong with a big smile, saying, "I haven't heard from you in so long, I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

Liu Weidong had no interest in hugging a grown man, so he quickly placed the basket in front of him to block Pierre and said calmly, "Old Pierre, I brought everything. Take a look and see how the quality is!"

"I'm not surnamed Pi..." the Frenchman muttered discontentedly, but was quickly interrupted by Liu Weidong: "Oh, don't worry about these details, let's see if we're satisfied with the product first!"

This was also a concern for Pierre, so he and Liu Weidong took everything out of the basket and carefully inspected it.

“These dried matsutake mushrooms are of excellent quality, I’m very satisfied!” After a while, Pierre said with a big smile, “These truffles are even better, better than the ones I’ve seen in France before!”

Receiving such high praise from the Frenchman put Liu Weidong at ease, and he said with a smile, "I've said before that I would provide you with the best quality ingredients, and I will definitely keep my word."

“That’s right, I love doing business with people like you who keep their word!” Pierre nodded repeatedly, and then together with Liu Weidong weighed the dried matsutake mushrooms and truffles.

“There are 76 jin of dried matsutake mushrooms and 9.5 jin of truffles.” Pierre looked at the numbers in his notebook, pressed the calculator, and said to Liu Weidong, “So the dried matsutake mushrooms are worth 15,200 yuan, and the truffles are worth 2,850 yuan. The total price is… 18,050 yuan, right?”

Liu Weidong nodded with a smile and said, "That's absolutely right. Just give me 18,000."

"Ha, doing business with you is so straightforward." The Frenchman laughed happily, and quickly counted out a thick stack of foreign exchange certificates, handing them to Liu Weidong: "Count them!"

Liu Weidong didn't stand on ceremony, took the money, counted it, and said, "The number is correct. It's a pleasure to cooperate with you!"

"It's a pleasure to work with you!" Pierre was also very happy and wanted to hug Liu Weidong again.

Liu Weidong quickly and discreetly took Pierre's hand, using a handshake instead of a hug. This Frenchman was good in every way, except for his excessive enthusiasm; he kept trying to hug Liu Weidong, which was really taking a toll on him.

If Pierre hadn't once said that he brought his wife to China as well, Liu Weidong would have really suspected that this guy had some kind of special fetish!

Now that the dried matsutake mushrooms and truffles have been sold, it's time to talk about ambergris. So Liu Weidong handed the Frenchman a cigar and said, "Old Pi, I'd like to ask you, do you know anyone in the perfume or spice business?"

"Thank you!" The Frenchman thanked him, took the cigar, lit it, took a couple of puffs, and said, "I remember now, there's a perfume company owner who often comes to this restaurant. Why did you ask about that?"

Liu Weidong laughed and said, "I got my hands on a piece of ambergris and I want to sell it."

"My goodness!" Pierre exclaimed in surprise, then said enviously to Liu Weidong, "I heard this thing is extremely valuable. My dear friend, you're going to strike it rich this time!"

Liu Weidong smiled slightly and said, "It was just good luck. Could you introduce me to your customer?"

Pierre readily agreed, "Of course. I'll tell him about you next time he comes to dinner. I'm sure he'll be very interested. I'll contact you when I have more information."

"That's great, thank you!" Liu Weidong said with a smile. "If this works out, I'll treat you to dinner later!"

The Frenchman didn't stand on ceremony and quickly said to Liu Weidong, "I want to eat Chinese food at the International Hotel. I've heard it's the best hotel in Zhonghai City, and I've wanted to go there for a long time!"

"No problem!" Liu Weidong readily agreed, patting his chest and saying, "Order whatever you want to eat, I'll pay the bill!"

After discussing the matter with Pierre, Liu Weidong did not linger and quickly took his leave.

When Liu Weidong arrived, he carried over 90 kilograms of goods, but when he returned, his hands were empty, but he had an extra 18,000 yuan in foreign exchange certificates in his pocket. He was overjoyed.

Based on the current exchange rate, these foreign exchange certificates can be exchanged for 25,000 yuan. The cost of purchasing these ingredients is only slightly over 3,000 yuan, meaning the net profit is at least 20,000 yuan! Just one trip and they've earned enough to be considered a millionaire—this money is indeed very easy to make!

These days, it's troublesome for ordinary people to have so many foreign exchange certificates if they get caught. So the first thing I did after leaving the Western restaurant was to go to the Friendship Store and exchange my foreign exchange certificates for RMB.

As expected, the scalper named Maotou was right at the door. Upon seeing Liu Weidong, he immediately greeted him with a broad smile.

In truth, the scalper had helped Liu Weidong quite a bit, so he greeted him with a smile: "Hey kid, it's been a while. How's business lately?"

Mao Tou bowed and said, "Thanks to you, business has been pretty good lately. We can't afford big fish and meat dishes, but we can still have some soup occasionally."

Knowing that these scalpers make a lot of money, Liu Weidong smiled and shook his head, saying, "You're too modest!"

Mao Tou laughed along, "Even if I can make a little money, I definitely can't compare to your Brother Dong, hehe!"

After chatting for a few minutes, Liu Weidong quickly realized that something was off about the guy today!