mtl008 Chapter 279 guarantees it can be arranged.
Chapter 279 guarantees it can be arranged.
Since Wang Ergou got married, Li Xiangyang no longer goes into the mountains to hunt as frequently as before.
Sometimes they would catch fish in the river or set traps nearby to hunt small prey such as rabbits and pheasants to supplement their family income.
That day, he was squatting in the yard cleaning the rabbits he had just caught when he heard Wang Ergou shouting at the top of his lungs outside the gate, "Brother Xiangyang, are you home?"
Li Xiangyang quickly got up and went out to greet him. Good heavens, Wang Ergou was carrying large and small bags of gifts and stepped into the courtyard with a big smile on his face.
"Ergou? What's wrong? We've only been married a few days, what's the rush?" Li Xiangyang asked with a smile.
Wang Ergou rubbed his hands, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Brother Xiangyang, I...I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."
Li Xiangyang noticed Wang Ergou's embarrassment and patted him on the shoulder: "Come in and talk."
The two sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, and Li Xiaoyun brought over two cups of hot tea.
"Speak up, what's so hard to say? Is it worth sending me so many gifts?" Li Xiangyang took a sip of tea and asked directly.
Wang Ergou lowered his head, somewhat embarrassed: "Brother Xiangyang, um, you forgot? Before the wedding, I bragged that I'd help Hongxia get transferred to the commune's health center after the wedding..."
Li Xiangyang suddenly realized: "Oh, so that's what it was about."
“Yes,” Wang Ergou raised his head, his eyes full of pleading, “I can’t do this, I don’t have the connections, so I can only come to you, Brother Xiangyang, for help.”
Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment, then nodded: "This isn't difficult. Let's ask Ma Laosan first; he owns such a big factory, he must know a lot of important people. If he can't help, then we'll ask Uncle Zhou."
Wang Ergou's eyes lit up immediately: "Really? That's great!" Then he became worried again, "But... after all, I'm asking him for a favor, what kind of gift should I give? He's such a big boss, what hasn't he seen?"
Li Xiangyang remembered that the mink pelts he had caught earlier hadn't been processed yet, and said with a smile, "Don't worry about that. Remember those mink we caught last time? I still have the pelts; I can take them to Ma Laosan."
"Mink pelts?" Wang Ergou was taken aback. "Didn't we agree to sell them to my older sister as start-up capital?"
"Hey, you mean this? After we caught the mink, we went into the mountains and hunted a leopard. I gave the money from the leopard pelt to my older sister, but I wasn't in a hurry to sell this pelt, so I kept it. It's perfect for giving to Old Ma, he'll love it."
Wang Ergou was so moved that he couldn't speak and could only nod repeatedly.
“Okay, it’s settled then,” Li Xiangyang stood up. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll go to Ma Laosan’s timber processing plant.”
The next morning, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou, carrying carefully treated mink pelts, rode their bicycles to Ma Laosan's timber processing plant.
On the way, Wang Ergou was still a little uneasy: "Brother Xiangyang, do you think Ma Laosan will help with this?"
Li Xiangyang smiled easily: "Don't be nervous. Even if we hadn't given him a gift, considering our past relationship, he would have done what he could."
Upon arriving at the timber processing plant, one could see a group of workers busily moving timber in the yard.
Li Xiangyang asked a worker about Ma Laosan's whereabouts, and the worker pointed to the office in the backyard.
The two arrived at the office door, and Li Xiangyang knocked on the door.
"Come in!" came Ma Laosan's deep voice from inside.
Li Xiangyang pushed open the door and saw Ma Laosan sitting behind his desk looking through the account books.
Upon seeing Li Xiangyang, Ma Laosan immediately stood up, a warm smile spreading across his face.
"Oh my, aren't these Xiangyang and Ergou brothers? What rare guests! Please have a seat!" Old Ma greeted them warmly.
After the three of them sat down, Li Xiangyang took out a mink pelt from his bag and carefully unfolded it on the table.
"Mr. Ma, this is a mink that Er Gou and I hunted a few days ago. The pelts are in excellent condition, and we wanted to give it to you."
Old Ma's eyes lit up, and he reached out to stroke the mink fur, his face full of surprise: "What a fine fur! Mink fur is very rare."
Li Xiangyang smiled and said, "I'm glad Mr. Ma likes it."
Ma Laosan carefully put away the mink pelt, then looked directly at Li Xiangyang: "Brother Li, just tell me what you need. If it's within my power, I won't refuse."
Li Xiangyang succinctly stated Wang Ergou's request.
After hearing this, Ma Laosan waved his hand and said, "This is a small matter, leave it to me! I have some connections with Director Wang of the commune's health center. I'll take Ma Hongxia to see him another day, and I guarantee I can arrange it."
Wang Ergou stood up excitedly: "Really? Thank you so much, Boss Ma!"
Old Ma laughed heartily, "Don't mention it, it's nothing. What's a small favor compared to our friendship?"
Just then, a deep roar came from outside the door.
"That is..." Li Xiangyang asked curiously.
"Of course, come, I'll show you."
Ma Laosan laughed smugly.
The three of them left the office and went to the backyard.
Inside a huge iron cage, a lithe tiger paced back and forth, letting out a majestic growl upon seeing people.
It was the little tiger they had sold to Ma Laosan before, and it had grown quite a bit and was now quite imposing.
"How about that? Impressive, right?" Old Ma said proudly. "Besides being impressive, it also brought me good luck, and my business is getting better and better."
Li Xiangyang looked at the tiger, which seemed to recognize him as well. It stopped roaring and instead looked at him quietly.
"It still remembers you!" Ma Laosan exclaimed in surprise. "That's amazing!"
Li Xiangyang smiled slightly, unsure how to respond, since the deal had already been sold to someone else.
"Alright, that's settled then," Ma Laosan said, patting Wang Ergou on the shoulder enthusiastically. "Three days from now, have Ma Hongxia prepare the necessary documents and come to me. I'll personally take her to see Dean Wang."
Wang Ergou was extremely grateful: "Thank you, Boss Ma! Thank you, Boss Ma!"
Leaving the timber processing plant, Wang Ergou jumped up excitedly: "It's done! Brother Xiangyang, it's done! Hongxia will be overjoyed when she finds out! Brother Xiangyang, you really... really..."
"Alright, stop with the mushy stuff," Li Xiangyang interrupted him with a smile. "We're all brothers, why say such things?"
The two rode their bikes home, humming off-key tunes.
The warm sunshine bathed Li Xiangyang in a particularly pleasant mood.
Upon arriving home, Wang Ergou couldn't wait to run to tell Hongxia the good news, while Li Xiangyang went back to his own home.
In the days that followed, Li Xiangyang continued to get up early every day to check the snares nearby, and occasionally went down to the river to catch fish. He would often think of the majestic tiger in Ma Laosan's yard.
If he hadn't sold the tiger cub back then and had raised it himself, the tiger would surely be quite imposing sitting in his own yard now.
However, this is just wishful thinking.
It is certainly imposing enough, but putting aside the danger, how easy is it to raise a tiger?