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“That sounds great, let’s take our time to study it thoroughly,” the butcher brother agreed immediately.
In this world, who wouldn’t want to engage in a business that makes money?
The butcher brother, seeing some lean meat and ribs that hadn’t been sold, generously gave them all to Su Niannian.
Su Niannian smiled, accepting the gift, but still handed the butcher brother ten yuan. For these items, ten yuan was about right.
Neither of them wanted to take advantage of the other.
This was also the reason why Su Niannian wanted to collaborate with the butcher brother.
The two of them arrived at a slightly quieter alley, and Su Niannian explained her idea for the collaboration to the butcher brother.
The butcher brother’s name was Lu Hongliang, and he had a cheerful personality.
After hearing Su Niannian’s proposal, he was momentarily stunned.
“Little girl, you really trust your Brother Lu this much?”
Su Niannian’s proposal for collaboration was that she would provide the seasoning for the braised meat, and in return, she would take a commission.
Lu Hongliang felt that this kind of collaboration method was quite simple—it showed a lot of trust in him. Otherwise, Su Niannian could have easily made the product herself and sold it to him.
If that were the case, he could have earned a few cents per pound, which would still add up to a lot of money.
Lu Hongliang was very confident in the flavor.
In fact, Su Niannian had previously considered sourcing pig offal from Brother Lu, then processing and cleaning it in the village to make the product.
Once done, she planned to sell it through Lu Hongliang in the black market.
However, the reason she hadn’t gone down that path was that she didn’t have a suitable place to process these items, and more importantly, there were too many people in the village who might spread rumors or report her out of jealousy.
Strictly speaking, some agricultural by-products could be sold quietly as long as one didn’t get caught. Whether pig offal, made into braised meat, could still be considered an agricultural by-product was a gray area.
What Su Niannian feared most was that someone with ill intentions might escalate things and bring unwanted trouble.
Therefore, if Su Niannian only provided the seasoning and took a cut of the profits, her income would still be considerable, with no real risk involved.
And once 1978 arrived in two years, the regulations would loosen up, and things would become much easier.
By the time 1980 rolled around, everything would be completely relaxed.
Su Niannian wasn’t in a hurry for these two years—if she wanted to make money, there would be plenty of opportunities.
“Cooperation, of course, requires sincerity,” Su Niannian smiled.
“This packet of seasoning I have can braise ten pounds of pig offal. After it’s cooked, there will be some shrinkage, and it’ll end up weighing around three or four kilograms.”
Su Niannian took out a cloth bag from her basket. Inside was a pre-mixed seasoning, carefully measured according to the proportions. Su Niannian had even ground it with a pestle, making it impossible to clearly discern the specific ingredients or their proportions.
This way, the formula would be difficult to replicate. Additionally, by dividing the seasoning into small packets, she could precisely control the amount of braised meat, ensuring that the weight wouldn’t vary too much.
She also wouldn’t have to worry about being shortchanged or having her share taken.
“So, sister, how much are you planning to charge per half kilogram?” Lu Hongliang asked as he shook the packet of seasoning in his hand.
“One yuan per half kilogram,” Su Niannian thought for a moment before answering.
“One yuan?” Lu Hongliang paused, a bit surprised. But after considering the flavor, he thought to himself that one yuan per pound didn’t seem too expensive.
Pig offal like this, if Lu Hongliang wanted to buy in bulk, would likely cost only seven or eight cents per kilogram. If it could really be sold for one yuan per kilogram, that would indeed be an incredibly profitable deal.
Especially with this flavor, it would easily beat the braised pork served in state-run restaurants.
In state-run restaurants, a portion of braised pork costs one yuan or more, and you need a ticket to buy it. Plus, the portion is usually only about half a kilogram.
Considering this, Lu Hongliang thought that one yuan per kilogram for braised pig offal was already a bargain.
The key, though, was the flavor! The seasoning!
That was the real value.
Pig offal is cheap, labor is cheap, and the real money lies in the seasoning.
So, Lu Hongliang thought that the little girl’s suggestion of a 70-30 split wasn’t unreasonable.
As long as the braised pig offal was marketed well, it would definitely attract repeat customers.
Moreover, Lu Hongliang had connections with several black market traders in the county. Once the product was ready, he could easily distribute it to different places for sale. At that rate, he could sell dozens of kilograms in a day.
When he calculated it all… Lu Hongliang couldn’t help but feel amazed at how much money he could make in a single day.
He looked at Su Niannian with an expression that brightened.
However, Lu Hongliang knew that business was always about making the best deal, and he still wanted to negotiate for a bit more profit for himself.
But, he also understood the boundaries and knew when to stop.
“Little sister, how about this,” Lu Hongliang said, “The price for the braised pig offal will be one yuan per kilogram. I can get the pig offal for about seven or eight cents per kilogram, then add a little for labor costs. So, the total cost per kilogram would be about ten cents. I’ll take thirty cents, and you’ll take sixty cents.”
Seeing that Su Niannian didn’t respond right away, he quickly added, “This way, the money is divided more conveniently.”
Lu Hongliang observed Su Niannian’s expression carefully.
In his mind, even if he only earned two cents per kilogram, if he sold fifty kilograms a day, that would still bring in one yuan.
He couldn’t think of any business in the county town that could make that much in a day.
At present, the wages for workers in the county town were around 21.5 yuan a month, and the salary for a factory director at a state-owned enterprise topped out at 70-80 yuan a month.
If he worked with this young girl, he’d be making more in a single day than the factory director made in a whole month.
Lu Hongliang thought to himself that the money seemed like a windfall. Even if he didn’t sell fifty kilograms in a day, it would still be far more profitable than selling pork.
Su Niannian wasn’t really concerned about a few cents difference per kilogram. She simply smiled and nodded in agreement.
“That’s fine, but let me make it clear first,” she said, “This marinade will only be supplied to you, Lu Hongliang. If you have any other plans and use a single package of marinade to marinate over sixty kilograms of pig offal, which dilutes the flavor and leads to poor sales, I will stop working with you.”
Su Niannian spoke with a smile on her face, appearing completely harmless, but the message behind her words was clear and firm.
It was essentially a warning to Lu Hongliang not to try any tricks, or else this profitable opportunity would slip away at any moment.
Lu Hongliang, feeling the weight of her words, quickly reassured her. “No need to worry, the profit here is already significant enough. I’m not the kind of person to play any games. You can trust me, I’m not like that.”
He truly hadn’t thought of trying anything underhanded. The money, if earned steadily, would bring in two to three thousand yuan a month— a considerable amount in their current circumstances.
In this era, the idea of making two to three thousand yuan a month was almost unbelievable. Lu Hongliang even felt that this opportunity could change his entire life.
Once the deal was finalized, Su Niannian handed Lu Hongliang ten packs of the braised meat seasoning, which she had just made after buying the ingredients and working in her space. Along with the seasoning, she also gave him ten bottles of sauce—one kilogram per bottle.
Although they were called sauces, they were essentially soy sauce with a few drops of spiritual spring water added in.
This was the reason Su Niannian could confidently and boldly provide the seasoning.