From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Chapter 124: Chapter 102: 15? 80? Isn’t This the Price of Pork?

Su Chen only gave a rough outline; he certainly wouldn’t tell Ziggy the specifics.

"First and second-tier cities? Mr. Su, isn’t that a bit of a stretch? If anything goes wrong... I’m afraid the losses would be enormous, wouldn’t they?" Ziggy had never imagined Su Chen would make such a massive move.

After all, there were about fifty-four first and second-tier cities. The most basic investment in each city would be at least a million, and for first-tier cities, it could be several million. Just the storefront renovations alone would cost at least sixty to seventy million, and that didn’t even include the other expenses.

The initial investment would be, at minimum, a hundred million.

Su Chen waved his hand dismissively, his tone calm. "Don’t worry. If I’m daring to do this, it’s because I know what I’m doing. The key right now is how many pastures you can consolidate."

Seeing Su Chen speak with such confidence, Ziggy figured he must have his reasons. And considering his background... Ziggy stopped trying to talk him out of it. After all, the man was rich and powerful. Even if he took a loss, it wouldn’t be a serious blow to him.

"Mr. Su, to be honest, I can’t give you a guaranteed number right now. You probably know that in recent years, competition among the various leagues and cities in Inner Mongolia, combined with other external factors, has left the entire mutton market in a slump. Many herdsmen aren’t even hoping for a high price anymore; they just want to be able to sell their sheep at all."

"If I bring them all together and you’re supposed to buy all their sheep, but then something goes wrong... the blow to the herdsmen would be devastating!"

Ziggy looked at Su Chen uneasily. His words felt a bit like he was forcing his hand. ’If you don’t offer some kind of guarantee, how can I possibly give you one?’

Su Chen understood what Ziggy was saying. He gently tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair, making a crisp TAP... TAP... sound.

Ziggy watched Su Chen, his expression tense. He knew the success or failure of this whole affair rested on the outcome of Su Chen’s considerations.

After about a minute, Su Chen turned to Ziggy and asked, "I’d like to know, what’s the purchase price you get from those middlemen?"

Ziggy hadn’t expected Su Chen to ask this. He hesitated for a long moment before finally giving a number. "Fifteen!"

"Fifteen? Not eighty?" Su Chen shot to his feet. He couldn’t believe the price was so low.

He remembered hearing that Wuzhumuqin mutton went for eighty a jin. The difference was huge—a full five-fold gap!

What was the damn difference between this price and the price of pork?

’Damn it, those middlemen are real pieces of work. They’re so damn ruthless, flipping the product for several times the price. No wonder the market in Inner Mongolia is such a mess.’

’They were definitely a big part of the problem. After all, it’s easiest to fish in troubled waters.’

Ziggy thought Su Chen found the price too high and quickly explained, "Mr. Su, that’s already a historic low. Even at the auction, the most we could get is sixteen or seventeen!"

"As for the eighty you mentioned, Mr. Su, that’s the price for dressed meat that we sell through our own private channels!" At this point, Ziggy decided not to hide anything and explained the situation.

Su Chen listened and finally understood what was going on. So, it turned out that because Ziggy’s family had a slight connection to Ji Wan and Xiao Chen, they were able to sell their sheep directly to the Imperial Capital, fetching a much higher price than they would in the Xilinguole League.

Meanwhile, the other herdsmen were only getting prices of around fifteen or sixteen.

The auction Ziggy mentioned was a special event unique to the Xilingel Alliance. Several towns and pastoral districts would band together to sell all the sheep from their ranches. It was a sales channel the local government had set up for the herdsmen.

"Ziggy, if I buy out everything, how many pastures can you consolidate?" Su Chen asked again, his tone much more serious this time.

"Buy out everything?" Ziggy was completely stunned by his words and stared blankly for a long moment.

Su Chen gave a light cough, which snapped Ziggy back to reality. He said apologetically, "My apologies, Mr. Su. It’s just... what you said is too shocking!"

"It’s fine." Su Chen waved his hand dismissively.

Ziggy pondered for a moment before replying, "Mr. Su, I can consolidate twenty-five pastoral districts. The annual number of sheep ready for market could reach three hundred thousand, each weighing between thirty and forty kilograms."

Su Chen was surprised by this. Three hundred thousand sheep represented two-thirds of the entire Dongwu Banner’s output. He hadn’t expected Ziggy to have that much influence here.

"Thirty to forty kilograms?" Su Chen made a quick calculation in his head. ’After removing the wool, head, and organs, a whole Wuzhumuqin sheep would yield about thirty to forty jin of pure meat.’

The purchase price for one sheep would be around 900 to 1,200 yuan. Even buying all three hundred thousand would only cost a few hundred million.

Three hundred thousand sheep sounded like a lot, but after careful calculation, that number was barely enough.

Take Li Fei’s hot pot restaurant in the suburbs, for example. It might only have a few tables, but it went through about three sheep a day. That’s ninety sheep a month, and over a thousand a year!

If this were in a bustling area of the Imperial Capital, that number would multiply several times over.

Mutton wasn’t just for hot pot; there were plenty of other ways to prepare it: barbecue, roasted whole lamb, stews, stir-fries. Even the organs could be made into offal dishes!

’If I sold this in a first-tier city, a Wuzhumuqin lamb shank would have to start at a triple-digit price. Selling other cuts for seventy or eighty wouldn’t be excessive, would it? With the quality of Wuzhumuqin lamb, how could there not be a market?’

’And with such a low purchase price, it would be hard *not* to make a profit!’

Su Chen’s main priority now was to get the resources under his control. He didn’t want to go through all the hard work of building up the Wuzhumuqin lamb brand, only for someone else to come along and reap the rewards.

"I’ll buy out everything. How many days will it take for you to finalize things?"

"Really?" Ziggy said, his voice filled with excitement.

"Of course it’s real. Did you think I was joking?" Su Chen said with a faint smile.

"Hahahaha! Dongwu Banner is saved! Mr. Su, five days. Give me five days at most, and I’ll have everything settled!" Ziggy declared, thumping his chest.