Yang Jing waved his hand and said, "You are a Chinese, so you must know that there is an old saying in China called 'suffering a loss is a blessing'. Remember, Pete, we are outsiders. If we want to gain a foothold in Yanjing, a small loss is nothing. Moreover, as your boss, I can still afford this loss."

"I understand, boss."

Yang Jing understood the kind of loss that Pete Wu mentioned, but Yang Jing knew even more clearly that this kind of small loss was very necessary.

When China just started its reform and opening up in the 1970s and 1980s, many things with Chinese characteristics appeared. The most famous one was the "dual track system". Not only did various materials have a "dual track system", but even foreign exchange, which was related to the most basic level of the country, also implemented a "dual track system".

For example, in 1981, the official exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the national currency in China was 1:1.7, but an internal exchange rate was also implemented in China, which was 1:2.8.

The reason for this situation is directly related to the national conditions at that time.

In that era, the country was extremely short of all kinds of materials and its foreign exchange reserves were pitifully small. Because of the small foreign exchange reserves and the large amount of domestic currency, this dual-track exchange rate system came into being.

Especially in the late 1970s, as China's tourism industry began to develop, foreign economic and cultural exchanges also increased, and more and more foreigners came to China. At that time, China implemented a unified national currency market, prohibiting foreign currency from circulating in the country, and foreign currency could not be directly exchanged with national currency. In order to facilitate foreigners, overseas Chinese, and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to spend in China, Huaxia Bank began to issue foreign exchange certificates from April 1, 1980.

Therefore, in that era, a kind of "currency" that was not a currency appeared in China and was very popular at that time.

The emergence of foreign exchange coupons meant that after foreigners came to China, they had to go to the Huaxia Bank to exchange their foreign currency for foreign exchange coupons according to the exchange rate at the time. The denominations were 100 yuan, 50 yuan, 10 yuan, 5 yuan, 1 yuan, 50 cents and 10 cents. The face value of the coupons was equal to the national currency and no report of loss was allowed.

Although its face value is equal to the national currency, it is much more powerful than the national currency. At that time, the supply of materials in China was very tight, and tickets were required for shopping. Grain tickets were required to buy rice, and cloth tickets were required to buy cloth. If you want to buy scarce goods such as color TVs and refrigerators, not only are the prices high, but the supply is also very small. Some people queued up at the door of the store overnight to buy a color TV, but they may not be able to buy it. But if you use foreign exchange coupons, you can save such trouble. It is a combination of tickets and currency. You don't need to use tickets when shopping with foreign exchange coupons. Because of this, foreign exchange coupons were hyped up on the black market. At the highest point, 1 yuan of foreign exchange coupons could be exchanged for 5 yuan of national currency.

If Pete Wu wanted to exchange foreign exchange certificates at Hua Xia Bank, he could only do so according to the official exchange rate at the time, that is, 100 US dollars could only be exchanged for 170 foreign exchange certificates. And if Pete Wu purchased these old items using foreign exchange certificates instead of national currency, he could only consume them according to the actual value of the foreign exchange certificates.

For example, Peter Wu took a fancy to a Huanghuali armchair from the Qing Dynasty. This armchair only sold for 20 national currency in that era, so Peter Wu needed to take out about 11.7 yuan of foreign exchange coupons to buy this Huanghuali armchair.

But if this 11.7 yuan foreign exchange certificate is sold to those who trade in foreign exchange at the black market such as Friendship Store and Yabao Road, how much national currency can it be sold for? About 40 to 50 national currency!

In other words, if Peter Wu used foreign exchange coupons to buy the Huanghuali armchair, he would probably lose 20 to 30 national currency!

In that era, 30 national currency was equivalent to a worker's monthly salary, enough to provide food for a family of three for a month.

If you calculate strictly, this loss is not small.

But even if it is not small, Yang Jing will have to suffer this loss. Yang Jing is very clear about how huge the amount of US dollars in his hands is. In this era, 1.6 billion US dollars is more than half of all the foreign exchange reserves of China.

In 1981, the entire China's foreign exchange reserves were only US$2.708 billion!

If Yang Jing were to exchange the US dollars in his hands for foreign exchange coupons, China would naturally welcome it with open arms. However, if the foreign exchange coupons were to be converted into national currency at the black market exchange rate, even if only one-tenth of the exchange rate was exchanged, it would cause great turmoil in China's economy.

This is definitely something that the Chinese government will not allow!

Yang Jing knew very well that if he dared to do this, the country would definitely expel him and his people from the country without hesitation. It would be absolutely impossible for him to enter China using the identity of Michael Lynch in the future.

Therefore, such seemingly lucrative things should never be done. Foreigners like Peter Wu, who apparently hold a huge amount of US dollars, will definitely be closely monitored in this era. If he dares to do something out of line, the country will definitely be merciless.

Besides, Yang Jing had never thought of doing this. He earned his money from foreigners, and then used it in China, which was in urgent need of foreign exchange. Although he suffered a little loss, compared with his huge wealth, this loss was not even a drop in the bucket. Moreover, suffering such a loss could make the country look up to him, so why not do it?

Yang Jing felt it was a good deal to suffer a loss in exchange for the country turning a blind eye to his purchase of old items.

A loss of tens of millions of dollars in this regard is nothing to Yang Jing.